


Things That Should Not Be

by spudking



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Canon Divergence, Eventual Romance, F/F, Mild Genocide, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-19
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2018-04-05 02:14:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 65,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4161795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spudking/pseuds/spudking
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Avatar Aang fell the Equalists rose. Twenty years on and there are still whispers about benders in hiding, using their abilities in secret. Asami still believes in benders, even if her classmates don't. Besides, what would Korra even know about bending anyway?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Second First Impressions

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first shot at a multi-chapter. It's un-beta'd, so all mistakes are mine. Hope you enjoy it.

“Riiiight,” Korra drawled. “And a polar bear dog ate my homework.”  
There were chuckles from the class. Asami went red.  
“Look, just because...”  
“Just because there was a _spirited_ genocide and no confirmed sightings for, oh, twenty years or so, doesn’t mean the benders are all gone?” Korra suggested, and there was a hint of anger behind the sarcasm now.  “Give it up, Sato. They’re gone, and they’re not coming back. Wiped out, de-bended or just straight up executed. Amon and his Equalist bastards were...”  
“Amon!” Asami snapped. “Amon. He was one. That’s how...”  
“Oh spirits, not that conspiracy bullshit.”  
The GTA coughed and Korra made a vaguely apologetic gesture. “We’re a world out of balance, Sato. Case in point, the big honking spirit wild that exploded downtown last year!”  
“That could have been anything. Well...anything spirit-y.” Asami amended. “Hell, it could have been the Ava-“  
She stopped, because Korra had stood up so fast her chair had toppled over backwards. An arm shot out, catching Korra in the stomach. Korra let Opal pull her back into her seat. She didn’t look up from her notes for the rest of the class.

Asami didn’t have an infinite amount of patience, and it was definitely running low today. The extermination of the benders wasn’t exactly a light subject to tackle before lunch, especially not with Korra in the class. Who was she to set herself up as the great authority on benders anyway? There were dozens of sightings of benders reported every month. They ranged from the downright paranoid ‘ _An old man heated his tea with his bare hands!’_ to the incredible _‘she crushed the car!’_ , and they couldn’t _all_ be wrong. They couldn’t. People with the powers of gods didn’t just up and vanish, couldn’t be wiped out so easily. It just seemed too impossible, no matter how much Korra and Opal dismissed it.

They filed out at the end of class. Asami made to slink off when a hand caught her shoulder. She turned. Opal, again.  
“What?”  
It came out harsher than Asami intended. Opal pulled her to one side, out of the stream of human traffic.  
“Look, about Korra.” Opal began awkwardly. “She doesn’t mean anything by it, it’s just...”  
“She can make her own apologies...” Asami began, but Opal cut over her.  
“You know Korra’s Southern Water Tribe, right?”  
Asami paled slightly. She hadn’t known. It was fairly obvious that Korra at least had Water Tribe ancestry but she hadn’t guessed she was native. Despite all they’d covered in the last few weeks Korra hadn’t given any personal insight. Opal watched as the implications hit home.  
“Yeah. So this is something of a touchy subject for her. Look, we’re heading to the bar now. You could come join us. We’re not as scary as we seem. And yes, by that I mean that Korra’s much less of an ass outside of class.”  
“It’s eleven o’clock.” Asami protested, but her heart wasn’t really in it. Opal shrugged.  
“And? It’s Friday. You got anything more pressing to deal with?”  
Asami paused. There were essays to write and prep reading to deal with and she’d been meaning to do some maintenance on her bike for a week now. Still, she could spare time for one drink, couldn’t she?

Korra stopped short of the table, motioning for Opal to go ahead.  
“Usual?” She asked, getting a nod in response. “And you?” Ashe turned to Asami.  
“I can get my own drink, thanks.” Asami said, still a little colder than was polite. Korra pinched the bridge of her nose.  
“I’m not good at apologies.” She said bluntly. “Look, this one’s on me, ok? If you insist, hang around and get the next one.”

 It shouldn’t have been that easy. Outside of class they’d maybe spoken three times. And yet, with the first drink as the grease on the wheels of social interaction, Asami found herself laughing along at Korra’s over-the-top anecdotes all the same, slotting neatly into the conversations like they’d known each other years. Asami ducked out of Opal’s reach to get the second round of drinks. On the third round Opal’s boyfriend turned up, and Asami was pretty sure she’d finally got a glimpse of what would happen if you turned a puppy into human form. Bolin was about six foot of well-built enthusiasm. He’d lifted Opal right out of her seat when he’d hugged her, nearly overturning the table. Korra had to catch both hers and Asami’s drinks, with the sort of ease that suggested this was a common occurrence.  
“You still owe me a beer, Bo,” Korra called over to him as he headed to the bar, and Bolin waved his acknowledgement.

He returned, with a beer in each hand and a stack of slightly sticky menus under his arm.  
“Can’t do a proper session on an empty stomach,” he grinned. Asami looked up. Proper session? Somehow that didn’t bode well.

Asami groaned, pushing her plate away. Korra and Bolin split the remaining fries between them without as much as a word.  
“How are you even...” she trailed off as Korra took an overenthusiastic bite of her hippocow burger, cheeks bulging out like a chipmunk.  
“Well _I,_ ” Bolin placed one hand dramatically on his chest, “got used to having to make the most of meals. Korra just has hollow legs and an unholy metabolism.”  
Korra tried to defend herself, but she couldn’t speak around the mouthful of meat.  
“Siblings not fond of sharing?” Asami guessed.  
“Street kid.” Bolin corrected casually. Asami froze.  
“Sorry, did you say...”  
“Yes, he did.” Opal sighed. “Bo, what’ve we said about just dropping that on people? They either think you’re kidding, or they freak out.”  
“My bad.”  
“Go easy Opal,” Korra had finally swallowed, wiping sauce off her chin. “Seeing as you dropped the whole SWT bomb on Asami after class.”  
Opal looked embarrassed. Clearly she’d thought she’d been more subtle than that.  
“Asami’s tried to line up a completely unnecessary apology three times in the last hour alone.” Korra added, making it Asami’s turn to look sheepish. “Opal, what _exactly_ did you scare the poor girl with?”  
“Nothing!” Opal said defensively. “I didn’t go into details. I just said you were born down there, that’s all. I didn’t mention the...”  
“Sooo...” Bolin said loudly, cutting his girlfriend off with a meaningful look that would have been a lot more subtle three drinks ago. “Yes, Asami. As hard as it is to believe, this fine creature you see before you was once scraping out a living in the gutters of our fair city with my brother...so actually you were sort of right with the sibling guess, just not the way you’d have thought. He’s a cop now. Things have really turned up for us.”  
“That’s great,” Asami said sincerely. “Can I ask how your luck changed?”  
Bolin jerked one sauce-splattered thumb at Korra. Now that was a surprise.

“One day a couple of years ago I wake up from a comfy nap in my cardboard and Pabu, that’s my fire ferret, long story, is being chased around the alley by this giant mountain of fur and teeth. I’m freaking out, Mako is just staring, and then out of nowhere there’s some random girl yelling at the monster like it’s a naughty puppy, and it just _stops_. The girl’s all apologetic, ends up shimmying halfway up a building to get Pabu down for me, insisted on getting us dinner as an apology, so we went back to the family she was staying with and...” Bolin glanced sideways at a slightly embarrassed Korra. “Well, we just never got round to leaving.”  
Asami tried to imagine her father’s reaction if she’d shown up on the doorstep with two hungry, homeless strangers. Maybe they’d have gotten a meal, some clothes, but he’d never have taken them in. “They’re like family now. And Korra’s like the sister I never had, which makes that whole thing  you had with Mako kinda ewww...”  
“That whole thing was ewww on every level,” Korra muttered. “We’re much better as friends. Much, much better.”  
“You could hardly have been worse.” Bolin said frankly. Korra had to agree.

The conversation lightened again. They ended up taking over the pool table, with both Korra and Opal warning Asami that Bolin was banned from a dozen pool halls in the city because of his hustling. Still, it wasn’t like they were playing for cash and Asami was genuinely impressed to find someone who could beat her at pool. She wondered if his talents extended to pai sho, but this was rather too boozy a day to test that. Some other time. And she was confident there would be another time, seeing as Korra had just swiped Asami’s phone to put her number in it.

Asami was taken by surprise when they rang the bell for last orders. She hadn’t realised just how fast the time had gone. Then she tried to tot up the drinks she’d had and realised exactly where the time had gone, as well as a significant amount of money and quite a lot of her balance. Across the sticky table Korra aimed a finger at her.  
“I’m taking you home.”  
“Uh...I’m flattered, but I generally go on more than one date...”  
Bolin snorted. Korra was grinning, but she looked just a shade pinker than she had a minute ago.  
“I _meant_ I, or rather we, are walking you home. Its dark out and you shouldn’t be stumbling about on your lonesome. I might be a Southern savage, but I’ve got some manners.”

Asami supposed that made more sense. But there was something in the way Korra’s gaze had dropped that gave her pause. She looked at that slightly sheepish smile, and felt torn. It would be easier and faster just to summon one of her father’s fleet of cars, but there was something touching in the offer Korra had made. Or statement. Besides, she wasn’t really ready for the day to end, so she agreed. And if she found herself grabbing Korra’s fantastically toned upper arm when she stumbled on the stairs, well, she couldn’t really be blamed for that now, could she? Korra certainly didn’t seem to mind having to steady her.

It took Korra all of five minutes to remember that she still had a hipflask tucked in her jacket pocket, and they passed it round as they walked. Asami spluttered and choked on the first mouthful, to the others’ amusement, but there was nothing cruel in their laughter.  
“What the hell is that?!” Asami spluttered. Opal shook her head.  
“Rule one when it comes to Korra and food and drink. Do _not_ ask what it is, because most of the time you do _not_ want to know.”  
“City sissies,” Korra laughed, taking the flask back. It tasted like honey and liquid fire. “Bolin will eat a hotdog made of spirits knows what, but I make _one_ plate of tigerseal nuggets...”  
“Ooh, hotdogs! We should get hotdogs!”

It was somewhere after the hotdog van that Asami started to feel uneasy. The city at night had eyes, and they made a pretty target; four students with laptop bags and too much drink in their bloodstream. She seemed to be the only one with any misgivings though. Ahead Korra and Bolin had were play fighting, shoving each other off the pavement or into the wall. Then without a word they were racing to scramble up a lamppost, Bolin crowing that he’d be the champion. Opal gave Asami a look, and Asami tried to remember to smile back. Korra reached the top first, tearing down the scrap of material that had hung there with a cheer, sliding down the post like a fireman’s pole after Bolin. Asami got a good look at the material in Korra’s fist, and the nervousness gave way to true fear. Gang colours. Triple Threat Triad. They’d wandered into gang territory in the dark and Korra had torn down their marker, and seemed completely ignorant of why that might be a bad idea. She was waving it around like a trophy. Bolin was a Republic City native, he had to know the dangers of the gangs, but he too seemed curiously uncaring about Korra painting a target on her back.  
“Asami, calm down,” Opal soothed, or tried to at least. She wasn’t exactly sober either, none of them were. “There’s no reason to panic.”  
“No reason to panic?” Asami echoed, as the gang member emerged from the shadow. He had to have been trailing them for a while, waiting for them to stop. Asami saw him over Korra’s shoulder. She opened her mouth to shout a warning, but Korra had already turned, still jovial, delivering a vicious uppercut that sent the man staggering back.  
“Hey there.” Korra grinned. “Nice night, isn’t it?”  
He looked up at her, and recognition dawned.  
“Oh _fuck_.” The gangster moaned, and Asami’s brain ground to a halt.

“Not your night, huh?” Korra said, faking sympathy. “Look, just drop the stash. Don’t pretend you don’t have one,” she warned. “Hand it over now, and there’ll be no need for a repeat performance. I don’t want to pull another of your teeth out of my knuckles. Do you know how dirty someone’s mouth is? It got all itchy and infected. It wasn’t pleasant.”  
The man looked from Korra’s face to her clenched fists, and then began emptying his jacket of wallets and phones and a small amount of jewellery, piling it at Korra’s feet.  
“Smart man. You want me to give you a nice shiner, so the boys think you put up more of a fight?”  
“Sure...”  
Korra’s fist was moving before he even finished. He yelped, clutching his face. “There you go.” She said, still in that affable tone. “ And hey. Consolation prize.” She tucked the gang colour into his belt. “Blame a rival gang, maybe you guys can spend some time bloodying each other up instead of innocent people for a change. Oh,” She paused, and although her voice did not change Asami could have sworn the temperature dipped a few degrees. “Next time I see you, I won’t be nice. Now get the fuck out of here.”  
He took off at a sprint.

Korra stooped, gathering the stolen items carefully into her rucksack., Bolin crossing to give her a hand.  
“Asami? You ok?”  
“What?” Asami jolted. “Oh. Yeah. I just...I never saw a reverse mugging before. Gangs scare the shit out of me. Been robbed by them before.” It wasn’t exactly a lie, but it was far from the full truth.  
“Recently? Because that’s the third idiot to try Korra this month alone. There’s a chance the cops have your stuff.”  
“You do this a lot?”  
“Not exactly. Or at least, not intentionally. Korra just...oh, you done?”  
 Korra came over, swigging from her hipflask. “He had quite the haul. Must have been a good night for him. Two engagement-looking rings that I imagine their owners will be very glad to get back.”  
“I’ll call Mako in the morning. But I suggest we get moving, because I doubt you want to fight the whole triad tonight.”  
Korra seemed to consider it for a moment. “Nah, I’m good. ‘Sami, you ok?”  
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. How’s the hand?”  
Korra examined her reddened knuckles as they set off again. “Nothing to worry about. I’m sorry about...all that. It wasn’t supposed...This wasn’t claimed territory last week. The Agni Kais must be pushing west.”

They finally reached the Sato house. Or rather, the gatehouse of the Sato mansion. Bolin and Korra let out a synchronised whistle. Asami looked embarrassed.  
“It’s a little big, I know.”  
“Asami, there are _towns_ in the South Pole smaller than this.” Korra told her, making her blush more. “Shall we walk you to the door, my lady?” Bolin asked, with an exaggerated bow. It could have been annoying, but Asami had to fight back a laugh.  
“Yes. Because if you think I’m letting you three clowns go traipsing back through the territory of a pissed-off gang you must be mad.”  
“You really don’t need to.” Opal said. “We’ll be fine. We can skirt Triple threat turf, we’ve just got to get to the harbour.” She said it with much a blasé voice that Asami didn’t work out what was worrying about the statement for a moment.  
“The harbour...no, no, no, that’s like, Red Monsoon heartland! No. Not at this time of night. I’ve got more than enough space. As you can see.”  
The three exchanged a glance. Asami might have been a little the worse for wear, but it seemed to her they were checking with Korra.  
“I’ll need to make a quick call. Just to reassure the folk at home we’re not dead.”

Asami set them up with two of a seemingly infinite number of guest rooms. Korra flopped down onto the bed, pulling out her phone. She fumbled the lock screen a few times, and realised she was probably drunker than she’d thought.  
“Damn it.” She groaned aloud, not wanting to leave the stupidly comfortable bed. She paused, listening for sounds of life from the house, but it was quiet. It was safe. She moved her hands with less precision than she was used to, drawing a stream of water from the en suite tap over to her. Most she drank, the rest she splashed over her face. That would probably revive her enough to send a legible message to Tenzin, enough to keep him from sending out the White Lotus to find her this time. With that taken care of she crawled under the unfamiliar blankets and let herself drift off, trying not to think too much about raven hair and dark red lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reviews and constructive criticism are very gratefully received!


	2. Oops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami's thirsty, Korra's forgetful and Tenzin's not happy. Contains entirely gratuitous mentions of Korra's back.

Asami woke and wished she hadn’t. Her head was pounding and her mouth tasted like something had died in it. Water. She needed water. She managed to stumble to the bathroom, failed to find a glass, and resorted to just sticking her head under the tap. Ah yes. The great, suave, unflappable Asami Sato, with her makeup smudged over her face and pillow and her head practically in the sink. She really shouldn’t have had that last drink. Or the three before that.

Forty five minutes later she was actually feeling almost human, showered and made up to her usual standards, wrapped in a dressing gown. Right. Time to be a host. Assuming of course that any of the others were awake yet.

She tiptoed down the corridor, pausing outside Korra’s room. She could hear the slight creak of floorboards, a faint sound of music. Asami knocked lightly, but there was no answer. She opened it a crack, just to check, and promptly let the door swing open all the way. Korra didn’t notice, because she was facing the other way. The music was coming from her headphones, the wire dangling down from her ears to pool around the player on the floor. And yes, hanging down. Korra was holding herself in a handstand position, the muscles in her arms working beautifully as she lowered herself almost to the carpet, then pushed back up. Asami just stared. Korra had apparently forgone a shirt, dressed in just jeans and a bra, meaning Asami had a glorious view of Korra’s well-developed shoulders and back, watching the tattoo that wrapped round her upper arm bulge with every flex. If she’d had a marker and an anatomical chart she could have picked out every single muscle on Korra’s torso.

Asami wasn’t sure how long she’d been standing there when Korra pushed herself up one final time. She returned to her feet in a fluid movement, stretching out her shoulders. She turned, and just about leapt out of her skin, hands clenching immediately into fists.  
“Uh...morning,” Asami managed belatedly, as Korra’s fists uncurled. “Sorry, I just...uh....I was...”  
Korra chuckled.  
“How’s your head? Feeling a little fragile this morning?” She teased, wrapping her headphones up and shoving them into her pocket. Asami was very determinedly trying not to stare.  
“Abs...absolutely. I am never drinking that rotgut you gave me again.”  
Korra dramatically put a hand over her chest as if wounded.  
“Rotgut? That stuff’s fit for great chieftains! Honestly, I thought you were a woman with good taste. Next you’ll be telling me you don’t like tigerseal.”  
“Hey, I like most things Southern!” Asami protested good-naturedly. Korra raised an eyebrow, grinning mischievously.  
“Oh, you do, do you?”  
Asami went red, but she was saved answering by a loud rumbling from Korra’s stomach. “Breakfast?” Asami suggested, and Korra nodded gratefully.

Asami didn’t really use the kitchen much, but Hiroshi had taken the chef with him on his business trip, leaving her to grapple with the uncooperative stove while Korra tried to hunt down plates. She heard the awkward cough and turned to see Korra looking rather sheepish.  
“Have you got a step or something?” She asked, indicating the just out of reach plates. “Didn’t really think I should go climbing on your counters.”  
“I’ve got it.”  
They switched positions. Korra double-checked Asami was facing away and lit the hob with a snap of her fingers. Asami turned back, crockery in hand, to find Korra already cracking eggs into a spitting frying pan.  
“Should we wake Bolin and Opal? I...”  
“He’ll be down the second he smells food, so if you want to eat we better get a head start. Trust me,” Korra added seriously. “He’s a walking stomach in the mornings.”

Korra was halfway through the second plate of her head start when her phone rang. She swallowed the mouthful of bacon, digging her phone out of her pocket.  
 “City morgue, you kill ‘em we...Oh, sorry, Tenzin.”  
Asami looked up from her tea. Korra had gone pale.  
 “Yeah...no, I didn’t forget. Well, I didn’t forget it was happening just what day it was...ok, yes, that is sort of forgetting...Look, I’m sorry, ok? I’ll be there as soon as...” she checked her watch. “Ah. Wait, what? Oh you are kidding. Did Bumi...of course he did. Right. Yes, I know this is my fault. Ok. See you.”  
She hung up and dropped her face to the table.  
“Shit. Shit, shit, shit.”  
“Everything ok?” Asami asked, though it clearly wasn’t.  
“Nope,” Korra sat back up. “Ok, uh, I’m going to be a real terrible guest right now, so, sorry about that.”  
“Uh...”  
But Korra had already jumped up from the table and was sprinting back upstairs. Asami followed.  


She caught up with Korra hammering on the door to Bolin and Opal’s room. There was a noise of protest from within.  
“Five more minutes!” Bolin called plaintively, voice muffled.  
“No more minutes! We have screwed fucking pooch this time guys!”  
The door opened, revealing a sleepy eyed Opal in nothing but Bolin’s overly large shirt, and Bolin in just his boxers.  
“What are you talking about...”  
“Ba Sing Se.”  
Boling frowned. “Ba Sing Se?”  
“Ba Sing Se!”  
“ _Ba Sing Se_!” Opal’s eyes went wide and she grabbed Bolin’s arm to check his watch. “We were supposed to be on the airship to Ba Sing Se an hour ago!”  
“Yeah. So get dressed! They’re swinging this way to pick us up.”

Opal and Bolin retreated back into their room. Asami followed Korra to hers, finding the girl lacing her boots on.  
“Um, Korra?” She began awkwardly. “I don’t actually have an airship landing crew on duty so...”  
“That would be a problem.” Korra shoved her jacket into her rucksack. “But, luckily enough, we don’t have enough time to park.”  
Asami did not like the glint in Korra’s eyes.

“Can I ask why you’re in such a rush?” Asami asked.  
“Because you don’t keep Queen Bitchface waiting. Not if you’re trying to get anything out of her, at least.”  
“You’re going to see Queen Hou-Ting?” Asami asked, more than a little stunned. Korra laughed.  
“Us? No way. Tenzin is. We just go along to keep Meelo out of trouble. Last time he tried to smuggle in an army of lemurs.”  
“Wait, Tenzin? As in...”  
“Councilman Tenzin, custodian of all things Air Nomad related.” Korra said it like it wasn’t a big deal. She looked at Asami’s expression. “Oh, yeah, um, he’s the one me and Bo live with. Nice guy, if a little serious. Speaking of serious...” Korra checked her phone again and thumped on the adjoining wall. “C’mon already! Haul ass!”

They made it to the lawn with minutes to spare, Asami still in her dressing gown, Bolin’s shirt down up all wrong and Opal still trying to rub sleep out of her eyes. The airship was approaching, beginning to descend towards them. The ladder unfurled, trailing along the grass, and Asami suddenly realised what they planned to do.  
“You’ve got to be...you’ve done this before, right?” She asked, looking at the height of the ship, and the slow but steady progress of the ladder. The three shared a look.  
“Uh...”  
“Well...”  
“Not as such.” Korra admitted. “But the theory is sound. Bo, you first. If you fall screaming to your death we’ll know it’s a bad idea.”

Bolin jogged towards the ladder, grabbing on and starting to scramble up. Opal was quick to follow.  
“Sorry to dash out so early,” Korra said, as the end of the ladder drew level with her. She stepped easily onto the lowest rung, looping an arm round a higher one. “Do this again sometime?” she asked, and Asami thought she caught a note of hopefulness over the noise of the engines.  
“Sounds great!” Asami called up. “But maybe minus the airship?”  
Korra beamed in response and the ladder began to retract, the zeppelin angling sharply up to avoid hitting the trees at the far end of the lawn. Asami watched until the figures had vanished inside the main body of the airship.  
“What the bloody hell have I gotten myself into?” She asked the retreating craft.

 

Mako was waiting for them on board. Korra airbent herself up the last few feet and he shut the hatch behind her.  
“Real smart,” he said, his usual frown in place. “You know how rare it is we get these opportunities, right? And you nearly throw...”  
“Bro, chill out.” Bolin yawned. “We made it, ok? It could have gone a bit smoother...” Mako rolled his eyes, “But we’re all aboard. So take a breath, and tell me where I can get some breakfast on this thing.”  
Mako just scowled and tried a different tactic.  
“Korra, you of all people...”  
“I think we both agreed we get on a lot better when you don’t spend all your time critiquing my Avataring, didn’t we?” Korra said mildly, but Mako got the message. “Now let’s just go, ok? I’m sure Tenzin has a whole lecture prepped.”

The three latecomers plus Mako made their way into the centre of the airship, taking their seats at the oval table in the main area.  
“Now we’re all here,” Tenzin said pointedly, and Korra rolled her eyes. “We can get down to business.”

 “We got a report from one of our eyes in Ba Sing Se that something shifty was going on.”  
“Well that certainly is specific enough to drag us several hundred miles,” Korra deadpanned, and Tenzin scowled.  
“Two known benders have vanished in the last month, that he knows of. Taken, by force.”  
Korra’s indifference crumbled away.  
“He’s sure?”  
“One of the alleys was still on fire when he came by. They blamed a gas explosion, but...” Tenzin didn’t need to elaborate. “We’ve been hearing the rumours for months, but this...”  
“If he’s right this is the first confirmed abduction since Amon fell.” Korra rubbed her eyes. This could not be happening. Not after all the progress they’d been making, not after all their efforts. Whatever was going on they needed to find out, fast. She looked around the table, trying to ignore Meelo wiggling like he had a pricklesnake in his underpants, waving his hand in the air to try and get her attention. The roster wasn’t exactly the stuff of legends; one councilman not available for duty, two hungover students, an overtired cop who was glaring at his very evidently distracted brother, three children and a retired commander. Then again, Aang had saved the world with less.  
  
“Ok. I’m taking the usual three, plus Jinora. Bumi, you’re backup.”  
“I'm sorry, what?" Tenzin asked. Across the table Jinora sat up a bit and Meelo seemed to be about to complain when Ikki put a hand over his mouth. Korra put on her best reasonable face.  
“We only have as much time as you can bleed out of the Earth Queen. Even your patience wears out eventually. Jinora’s spiritual projection will save us time on searching, assuming Kai has narrowed the area to something less than the entire city.”  
Tenzin gave her a sharp look. Jinora had actually squeaked at the mention of Kai’s name. Korra made a note to tease her about that later. For now though it was airbender senior she needed to deal with.  
“Who told you the tip came from Kai?”  
“There are three airbenders watching over Ba Sing Se, one in each ring. You don’t get alleys in the top two, and Kai volunteered for the lower ring.” Korra shrugged. She didn’t bother to add that, had it not been Kai, Tenzin would have been rather more forthcoming with the name. He had been a little too eager to accept Kai’s offer to work as an informant away from Republic City and, more to the point, away from Tenzin’s daughter. It might have been a more effective stumbling block to the relationship if Jinora wasn’t capable of sending her spirit halfway round the world in the blink of an eye. Across the table Tenzin rubbed his prematurely lined forehead.  
“Of course. Just...” he looked round the table at them all. “Be careful, won’t you?”  
“It’s us.” Bolin grinned confidently. “What could possibly...”  
Opal’s elbow to the ribs stopped him midsentence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't quite happy with the pacing on this one, but I think I made it work. All feedback is welcome. If you want I'm on tumblr, I'm spudking over there as well.


	3. Ba Sing Se

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Krew investigates the rumours of bender abduction in Ba Sing, Bolin should really stop fiddling with things and it's starting to get dark in the Earth Empire capital.

Korra pulled back her hair into a braid. The triple ponytail look was a little too distinctive for what they needed today. Jinora was sat cross-legged on the cabin’s bed, breathing evenly. Her mind was several miles ahead of them, ‘rendezvousing’ with Kai. Tenzin had not appreciated Korra’s air quotes around the word. Jinora’s blushing and Ikki’s giggles hadn’t really helped with that.

The cabin on the airship was Korra’s. They had had enough of these early morning call outs and covert expeditions for the ship to feel like something between the family car and a holiday home. A dysfunctional family’s car, admittedly, but it worked. And it meant that she had a supply of clothing that she hadn’t slept in or spilled beer on. It was time to tool up.

 Korra wrapped her hands, testing the tension with a couple of punches. They’d do. She’d cover the wrappings themselves with gloves and long sleeves when they left the ship; it didn’t do to look too much like a wandering MMA contestant, and her tattoos were practically like wearing a passport on her sleeve. She wished she could use proper waterskins, just for once, but she had to settle for a light rucksack and two water bottles. It didn’t quite have the same intimidation factor. Or style. She hunted down the shirt, plain blue, and the fraying black fingerless gloves. At this rate she’d need a new pair. Korra glanced at Jinora but the girl was still meditating. Great. Waiting never had been Korra’s specialty. She knotted and reknotted her boots, testing her movements in the cramped cabin until a knock at the door disturbed her.  She directed the water back into its bottles, dropping the rucksack.  
“Who is it?” She asked.  
“Me,” The voice answered helpfully. Korra rolled her eyes, opening the door to find Mako stood there looking awkward, and it wasn’t just because he was wearing civilian clothes for what could well have been the first time in weeks. “Look, I know this isn’t a great time...”  
“We’re about to go investigate multiple abductions. Yeah, it’s not exactly time for a chat.”  
“Always with the smart answer.” Mako sighed, but for once he didn’t actually look irritated.

“I didn’t mean, at the hatch...I know this is hardest on you. I, well, actually I _don’t_ get it. None of us can, can we? That’s kind of the problem.”  
The hint of humour was gone from Korra’s face now. He took her expression and silence as agreement. “But please, please be careful, ok?”  
“Don’t need to be careful,” Korra replied and Mako started to scowl. “Why would I? I know you’ve got my back.”  
That made him smile, if only for a moment. Korra heard the bed creak behind her and craned her neck, seeing Jinora stretching, clearly back on the physical plain.  
“Good timing, supercop.”

Jinora relayed the information Kai had picked up, including a potential route the kidnappers may have taken their firebender down. It was a start at least. Korra leaned over the map in the main room, and tapped a spot with her finger.   
“Here. This is our best bet at dropping in undetected. We’ve all got passes, but if we go all the way into the upper ring we’re going to lose valuable time. Worst case, Hooty-Mc-Bitchface...”  
“Queen Hou-Ting,” Tenzin corrected.  
“Isn’t that what I said?” Korra asked innocently. “Well, her, or her attendants, could interfere and keep us trapped up there, sipping tea and eating stupid little sandwiches. As much as I like sandwiches that’s not going to happen. We disembark here. It’s pretty much on our approach so it won’t look too suspicious.”  
Bolin twisted his head, trying to read the map upside down.  
“When you say disembark...”

“THIS IS NOT DISEMBARKING!” Bolin yelled. Korra pretended not to hear him, heaving open the lower hatch of the airship. They wouldn’t be using the ladder this time.  
“Just hold tight to Opal,” Mako reassured him. “Normally it’s getting you to let go of her that’s the problem.” He added, nudging his brother, who shoved him in retaliation. Jinora cleared her throat.  
“Boys. Behave.”  
They both stopped at her curt, disturbingly Tenzin-sounding tone. Jinora didn’t seem to notice their expressions. “Honestly, you’re as bad as Meelo. We’ve got a really small window here, we can’t miss it.”  
Korra and Opal exchanged a look over the younger airbender’s head.  
“Is that mission-orientated Jinora we’re hearing, or ‘I get to physically see my boyfriend for the first time in three months so don’t screw it up’ Jinora?” Korra asked, and the blush was answer enough. “Knew it!  Ahem, sorry. Jinora’s right. Let’s keep focused til we’re at least on the ground, ok? Here comes the factory.”

The factory was indeed coming into view through the open hatch. As was its great chimney, belching smoke into the sky. An eyesore, an environmental nightmare, and a perfect entry point. Assuming you could fly, of course.

They jumped in quick succession, the plumes of smoke hiding their descent from any eyes on the ground. Mako’s firebending would have been too obvious but Jinora and Korra took an arm each in freefall, slowing their descent and dragging their covering blanket of smog down with them, all but scraping themselves against the chimney stack. They landed gently. Bolin and Opal were a little less graceful; Bolin was latched onto Opal’s back like a terrified koala and they toppled over backwards on hitting the ground, landing Bolin squarely on his backside with Opal still in a death grip. It took a very unsubtle cough from Mako for him to realise that he was no longer falling through the air and to open a shallow tunnel to get them outside of the factory fence and onto the streets of Ba Sing Se.  
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Korra asked with a grin, and Bolin just huffed, brushing the muck off his trousers.  

They skulked in the backstreets while Jinora went to fetch Kai. Korra called Tenzin, assuring him that they had landed undetected. Jinora finally emerged, leading Kai. He’d grown an inch in the last few months but he was still lean and scrawny, his hair looking more tousled than usual. Korra raised one eyebrow and Jinora steadfastly refused to make eye contact.

They didn’t hang around to make small talk. Kai led them through the alleyways, past the still ruined scene of the apparent abduction, to a large grate set into the worn cobblestones. It was the work of a moment for Korra to bend it open and for them to drop inside. Bolin opted to use the ladder instead, grumbling about airbenders as he did so. Korra shut it behind them, leaving no trace of their entrance.

The tunnel beneath was surprisingly high and wide, and while it smelled musty there was a thankfully absence of anything worse than mould and rubbish that had been washed down.  
“This is so much better than that sewer in Omashu,” Bolin said with feeling, and even Mako shuddered at that particular memory. This time he was much more cautious in conjuring up a fireball to light the tunnel for them, but mercifully there were no pockets of methane this time round. It had been something of a learning experience for them all. Even with Mako’s light all they could see was near endless tunnel.  
“So.” Mako looked from one end to the other, his voice echoing slightly. “Which way?”

It was Jinora who made the call, and they set off for the branch that led out of the city, towards the infamous Lake Laogai. It was supposed to have been filled with concrete following the fall of the Dai Li, but the absurdly spacious tunnel they were currently walking through did nothing to suggest that. Korra was bringing up the rear, lost in thought. To have kept the lake base open would have required a great deal of political leverage, not to mention money. If this was where the firebender had been taken they were going up against something big. That did not bode well. She wasn’t really paying attention, too lost in thought, which was why she walked straight into Kai’s back. The party had come to an abrupt halt, Mako holding his makeshift torch a little higher. The brickwork had been blackened, a thin layer of soot that came off when Mako rubbed it. He sniffed his fingers.  
“Firebender. Maybe a week ago. Seems like it could be our guy,” he announced grimly. “Eyes open, people. Let’s not lose anyone else today.”

The tunnel was too long and too dark and too quiet. Every rustle, every footstep was deafening. Korra could hear her heartbeat and it was really beginning to piss her off. Then she thought about just how ridiculous that sentence was and had to bite on her hand to stop from giggling out loud. It was Jinora’s turn to give her a questioning look.

They stopped again, this time because they’d run out of tunnel. It had been bricked up ahead of them. Korra eyed the wall up.  
“Jinora. Do your thing, if you don’t mind.”  
Jinora promptly sat down on the flagstones, crossing her legs and closing her eyes. It only took a moment for the blue translucent form to climb out of its mortal host and stride through the brickwork. Bolin spoke for all of them.  
“Does that still creep anyone else out?”

Jinora’s head poked back through the wall.  
“You’re going to want to see this.” She said, but she didn’t look happy. “Oh, and this isn’t a wall. It’s a door. There’s a mechanism through here.”  
“Can you open it?” Bolin asked. Jinora rolled her eyes, walking back towards her body, straight through Bolin. Bolin shuddered. “Ok, ok, message received. Please never do that again?”  
“Bo, stop goofing around and get that wall open,” Korra sighed. Bolin did so, splitting the rock neatly. They entered cautiously, although Jinora surely would have warned them about any imminent threats. Kai found a light switch and miraculously resisted the urge to utter a pun about throwing light on the situation. The fluorescent tubes flickered into life.  
“Well. This certainly isn’t the lake Laogai Aang knew.”

The room they had entered into was six sided. No windows, just heavy looking doors like those on bank vaults. Four of them had a symbol painted on them. Air and Water on side, on the other Earth and Fire. The door immediately opposite them was blank.  
“Anyone else really not liking this?” Kai asked, to a mute chorus of nods. Mako headed for the door marked ‘Fire’, spinning the wheel to withdraw the heavy bolts. It swung open.

This room too was empty, blasted with scorch marks. There were chains in the centre, attached to winches set into the floor, but there was no visible means to activate them. And then there was the contraption set up to one side of the room. Mako didn’t need to be told to start doing his detective thing.

Bolin and Opal had ventured beyond the unmarked door, finding another hexagonal room. The first try found nothing more exciting than an empty meeting room, a dozen maps tacked up on the wall, covered in coloured pins. The second contained a whole mess of computers and monitors. Opal took the desk chair, powering them up. They weren’t password protected, possibly because people living in underground lairs figure they already have all the security they need. The first monitor was a set of security cameras. By the looks of it there were cameras in each of the first set of rooms, covering multiple angles. Bolin found a set of control panel marked “fire”. He pushed one of the buttons.

Mako had given up on the chains and was examining the only other thing in the room. The device came up to about chest height, made of black metal. There was an arm or probe pointing towards the centre of the room, and a heavily shielded tank attached to the other side. With a flammable warning sticker on it. Mako walked back round to the front. The penny was stubbornly refusing to drop when he brought his eye close to the end of the probe, just in time to see the pilot light ignite.  
“Wha...SHIT!”   
And then the world was an inferno.

Bolin was frozen in horror. Opal snatched the control panel from him, deactivating the flamethrower. The flames died at once, revealing a very shaken and somewhat singed Mako. He turned to one of the cameras, arms raised. Opal wished she wasn’t able to lip-read. Mako was being unusually creative in his rant at whoever had just nearly set him alight, although he seemed to be ignorant of the limitations of human anatomy.

Mako’s sleeve was still smoking when he joined them in the control room, brushing off Bolin’s stammered apologies. Kai joined them, doing a double take at Mako’s appearance but deciding it was probably safer not to go there.  
“This place is empty.” He announced. “Kitchen’s clean, not as much as a crumb. Bunkhouse is all made up for ten but there’s not even a loose sock. No sign of either of the benders they took. Opal, what are you...”  
Opal had pulled something out of her pocket and was plugging it into the computer.  
“Hard drive. There might be something useful on here, but this isn’t the place to do home movie night. We can look at it on the ship, maybe find out why someone was trying to BBQ a firebender.”  
“Cos they’re idiots?” Bolin suggested. “I mean, you can’t burn...a firebender...” he trailed off. “Oh hell.”  
Mako caught on.  
“Shit. Where’s Korra and Jinora?”  
“They’re,” Kai turned to an empty space behind him. “Huh. They _were_ right there.”  
“ _Shit_.”  
Mako dodged round him, running for the corridor.

“Why do I feel like the outsider?” Kai asked. “And why are we shitting?”  
Bolin made a face.  
“Dude. Phrasing.”  
Opal had turned back to the security cameras, cycling through the feeds to find the one they needed. Mako had reached the Water room, but there was no Korra there. Jinora was there, sat on the floor, but by the way she didn’t react to Mako careering in she was only there in body.

The setup was different in this room. There was a deep pool in the centre of the room, and a single chain snaked up from a coil in deepest part of it. By the size of the metal ring it was designed to be secured around someone’s neck.

“We need to find Korra.” Bolin wasn’t worried she’d come to harm; they’d heard nothing and Jinora certainly would have warned them if they were under attack. It was more about stopping Korra bringing harm to others. “Kai, what else did you find? Where could she have gone?”  
“Uh...” The young airbender started ticking them off on his fingers. “Kitchen, bunkhouse, living room, bathroom, exit tunnel, weapons storage...”  
“Exit tunnel?” Bolin repeated in disbelief. “You know, you make a much better thief than a scout. Can you guys...”  
“We’ve got this,” Opal reassured him.

The exit tunnel was even wider than the one they had entered by; judging by the tyre tracks the former occupants had been able to fit full-sized trucks down it, and it was considerably longer. Bolin started off at a run but he had to give that up long before he saw any sign of Korra. To rub salt in the wound Mako chose that moment to quite literally rocketed past him, propelling himself with blast of fire from his hands and feet.  
“Cheat!” Bolin tried to yell, but he was too out of breath. Most likely Korra had done the same. It would explain why Jinora hadn’t tried to keep pace with her. That was a worry all of its own though; Korra didn’t tend to break out the rocketman impersonation without a good reason.

Mako cut his jets when he saw daylight, approaching the opening carefully. They were way out of the city limits now, somewhere near the motorway judging by the distant roar of engines. Korra was sat at the base of a boulder just off from the dirt track, hugging her knees to her chest. Jinora’s spirit was sat nearby. They were speaking but it was too quiet for Mako to hear. They stood as he approached, Korra looking slightly sheepish as she failed to hug Jinora’s incorporeal form, and the girl laughed. She accepted Mako’s arm as they returned to the tunnel, Jinora fading back to her body.

It was a long walk back.

By the time they returned Opal had already duplicated the hard drive, taken extensive photographs including the maps on the wall, the machines and the weaponry they had left behind. There was nothing for them to do but close the wall behind them and pretend they had never been there.

Bolin tried to get Korra interested in another high-octane exit strategy but she wasn’t interested. They simply showed their passes, including the spare they’d bought for Kai, and boarded the train to the upper ring. Opal pulled her jacket close, the hard drive feeling like a lead weight in her inner pocket.

Tenzin looked as drained as they felt when they entered the airship. Korra shunned the central table. She sat a little way off on the sofas, absent-mindedly spinning a few marbles about with airbending as the others filled Tenzin in. Opal checked that Bumi was still distracting Meelo and Ikki in a different part of the ship before she loaded some of the video files onto her laptop. She’d had time to watch them while the others had been finding Korra, but no way near enough time to process.  

Tenzin did not react in the slightest as men in masks manhandled the firebender into the cell, locking chains about his neck and ankles. He did not blink as they withdrew, leaving the man to come round from whatever beating they had subjected him to, nor as the captive hammered on the unforgiving steel doors, howling mutely. He didn’t flinch as the flamethrower ignited, or as the chains began to be retracted, dragging the man towards the path of the flames, inch by inch. He swallowed when he was finally pulled into the flames, desperately bending the inferno around him. And then the fire died, and the man slumped to the floor, clearly exhausted, clearly weeping. The footage ended. Tenzin sat back in his chair.  
“There are others.” Opal said quietly, but she didn’t need to raise her voice. “One waterbender. And three...three nonbenders.” She looked down. Bolin wrapped his arms around her and she leaned gratefully against him.  
“Who would do something like this?” Kai asked, uncharacteristically serious. There was a click from across the room. Korra had dropped a marble. She stopped twirling the remaining three.  
“We know who it is.” She said, and she sounded about thirty years older than she should. “The testing. Finding benders. We’ve all seen this before.”

There was silence. Nobody wanted to the one to say it, to invoke the name, to make it real. Korra picked up the dropped piece, rolling the set round in her hand. The engraving was worn by time and handling, but the symbol of the Air Nomads was still just about legible. Korra closed her fist round them.

“The Equalists are back.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Insert dramatic music here*
> 
> Apologies for the lack of Asami. As always, any feedback is gratefully received! Too Bond villain? Too weird? Too much teasing Jinora? Let me know.


	4. The White Lotus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Equalist threat is weighing heavily on everybody's mind, not least Korra's, and Kya is everyone's favourite aunt

The flight home was very subdued. Korra had shut herself in her cabin as soon as the ship had gotten underway. Even when they returned to Air Temple Island she wouldn’t open the door, but when Jinora tried to bring dinner by in the evening she found the room empty. She sighed, whipping up an air scooter to get over to the dormitories before the meal got cold.  
“Korra?” Jinora called. “I saved you some supper.”  
There was no response from inside, but she could feel Korra’s spiritual energy behind the door. It wasn’t its normal reassuring presence but a boiling mass of rage, like a thunderstorm in a bottle. No wonder she didn’t want to be around people.   
“I’ll just set it down here, ok? Mind how you open the door.”

Jinora waited at the far end of the corridor, hoping to at the very least see a hand reach out and take the offering, but no such luck. She sighed, turning away and walking straight into Tenzin. He barely caught the bowl, spilling rice across the corridor floor.   
“I think if you wanted to mend bridges you’re going to need more than rice.” Jinora brushed the spilled grains out of her hair. The pair had gotten into a blazing row, almost literally on Korra’s part, back on the ship. Korra had been set on recalling the watching airbenders from Ba Sing Se. Tenzin had been for them staying, at least until they could bug the tunnel at both ends and see if anyone came back. Unkind words had been said by both parties. It was probably half the reason Korra had retreated to her own space.   
“It’s not fair, dad.”  
“I didn’t leave Kai there to separate the two of you,” Tenzin began, but Jinora was shaking her head.  
“I didn’t mean about that. Although that does suck.” She added as an afterthought. “I mean, I know why you did it, but seriously, that sucks.”  
“I know. And Korra knows it too, I think.”  
“She’s not been like this in ages, dad.” Jinora stole another glance towards the stubbornly closed door. “It’s not...it’ll be better than last time, right?”  
“I hope so. Spirits, I hope so.”

When Jinora got up for breakfast the next morning the bowl was gone and it no longer felt like a storm cloud had taken up residence at the end of the hall.

Jinora found Bolin and Opal outside, sat together under one of the trees. Bolin was playing with Pabu, trailing a stick for the excitable little fuzzball to chase. Opal was leaning back against him. She’d been reading by the looks of things but she’d dozed off. Bolin’s arm was round her waist. Jinora tried not to feel too jealous. It wasn’t their fault Kai had been left behind in Ba Sing Se. Damn the Equalists, and damn Kai’s newfound sense of purpose. _If only Korra had_...Jinora stopped the thought right there and changed direction, heading for one of the more distant meditation pavilions. Korra wasn’t the only one who could do with space right now.

The Avatar herself was currently somewhere beneath them. The cavern had been one of Bolin’s more intelligent suggestions; a hollow beneath the island, somewhere screened from view where they could really cut loose when it came to practice. Tenzin had had to fake a temple fire after one particularly vicious sparring match between Mako and Korra had been seen from the mainland. It had been their last match as a couple. The initial cavern had long since become a system of caves, some of which could only be accessed by bending as an extra level of security. Korra generally used the sea cave, the entrance of which was situated some twenty feet below sea level. Even getting in the right general are necessitated a fifty foot drop from the island’s cliffs, an unenviable prospect for non-waterbenders. When Korra wanted privacy Korra made damn sure she had privacy.

It was mid afternoon before she surfaced. Tenzin looked up from his computer screen to see a dishevelled Avatar in his doorway, clad in baggy tracksuit bottoms and a t shirt, hair loose and slightly damp. There was a laptop under her arm. Tenzin beckoned her in and Korra took the seat opposite his cluttered desk, balancing her laptop on a stack of paperwork.  
“I thought you might not come.” Tenzin admitted.  
“Thought about it. But here I am.  And with...” Korra checked her watch. “Two minutes to go.”  
She opened up her laptop, opening the program. The image of stylised white lotus filled the screen. She cracked her knuckles, seeing Tenzin wince out the corner of her eye. “Right. Let’s go spread the bad news.”

Korra entered her password, the webcam flickering into life as the encrypted video call began.   
“Wow, Tenzin. It’s like you’re actually in the room,” she deadpanned. Tenzin didn’t dignify it with a response. The device beeped as another person signed in, then another, and another. The video feeds started opening, leading with a grey haired woman dressed in green.  
“Zaofu here.”  
“Capital city is online.” Izumi adjusted her glasses.  
“...”  
“Mother, you’re supposed to...”  
“I know what I’m supposed to do, but how am I supposed to tell who the hell I’m speaking to? In case you’ve forgotten I’m blind!” Toph scowled, staring a good three inches to the left of her camera. Suyin pinched the bridge of her nose.   
“We’ve discussed this...oh for pity’s sake...”  
“Ahem.” A bearded man glad in blue had appeared, clearing his throat. “This is the South Pole. Hi, sweetheart. Are you...”  
“Not now, dad.” Korra groaned, as Suyin hid a smile and Toph snorted.  
“It is with increasing boredom that we must announce the North Pole is also online, cousin Korra.” Eska appeared onscreen, as emotionless as ever. Desna’s shoulder was visible. He was making no effort to actually get into shot.  
“Grand Lotus of the Earth Empire, online.”  
“Kyoshi Island is here.”

Tenzin checked them off his mental list. He’d hoped for a few more of the Grand Lotuses, but it would have to do. He put his hands together and gave the screen a short bow, a gesture most returned. Tonraq spoke for the assembled group.  
“Why have you called this meeting, Tenzin? You know it’s always a risk for us to contact each other, especially all at once like this.”  
“Delaying would have been the greater risk, Chief Tonraq.” Tenzin said heavily. He relayed what they had found in Ba Sing Se to a sea of stony faces. Izumi was looking particularly pale. Fifteen years of imprisonment would do that to a person.  
“Are you sure?”  
Korra nodded.   
“They had equipment there to...” She made a face. “Let’s go with _compel_ a bender of any element to reveal themselves, even air. And that’s what really worries me. The world thinks that Aang was the last airbender. For them to have prepared...well...”  
“It means one of two things,” barked a voice, and Lin’s scowl appeared onscreen. “Best case scenario, they’re paranoid and covering their asses. Worst case...”  
“They already know they exist.” Korra supplied. “And if they know about airbenders, spirits only know how much they know about us all. We could all be in danger.”

Korra’s doom-laden proclamation was met with silence.  
“So what’s the plan?”  
The Grand Lotus spoke up.   
“It is clear, given the risks, that Avatar must be removed from Republic...”  
“Like. Hell.” Korra growled.“Let’s get one thing clear before we start. I’m not going anywhere. I’m not running. Now are we going to talk about how the last five years of struggling seem to have been for nothing and the enemy is hunting our people down, or are you going to sit there and pout like a little bitch?”  
The Grand Lotus glared.

Outside in the corridor Meelo pressed his ear against the door.  
“I can’t hear anything!” He complained and Ikki shushed him. She was certain she’d heard Korra swear a minute ago. If only the wood wasn’t so thick...  
“Hey!” Pema rounded the corner, catching them in the act. Ikki and Meelo exchanged glances.   
“Uh oh.”  
“Race you to the other side of the island?”  
“Good idea!”  
They took off on air scooters, pretending not to hear their mother behind them.

Korra’s patience was running out. There were a lot of words being said but nothing actually being settled. Tonraq and the Grand Lotus had been in an increasingly loud argument for the last twenty minutes and it was drowning out any useful contributions from the rest of the Order. Korra could feel the headache brewing as she pinched the bridge of her nose. _If this is how Tenzin felt training me I can never apologise enough...oh screw this!  
_ “ENOUGH!” She yelled. Everyone stopped talking. “That’s better. Here’s what we’re going to do...”  
“What gives you the right...” The Grand Lotus began and Korra’s fist slammed onto the table hard enough to make the desk shake and the laptop jump.   
“Ravaa. Ravaa gives me the right. I am a fucking fully realised Avatar, and it’s time you and the other Grand Lotuses accepted that. Your job is to protect me and the world, not rule me.” She took a calming breath. “We’re not running. We’re not hiding. We’re not taking one step back, you understand? Amon has fallen. The Equalist reigns are over in all the nations. This...splinter faction, whatever it is, clearly has wealth and manpower. _So do we_. It’s time we turned the tables and went looking for them.”  
“I still think...”  
“We’re not burying our heads like ostrich-horses. Either we start trying to take the fight to them or...or we take it public. I’ll out myself on national TV before I go into hiding.”

The threat hung in the air. Nobody had any doubt the Avatar meant it, no matter the risks.   
“Perhaps a vote?” Tenzin suggested.

The headache was still there afterwards, despite the overwhelming agreement with Korra’s plan. She headed to the kitchen, standing on tiptoe to retrieve painkillers from the top shelf of the cupboard. She fetched a glass of water and then a can of beer, slumping at the kitchen table. She didn’t hear the approaching footsteps over herself gulping water, so when the hand touched her shoulder she jumped.  
“Whoa there!” Kya chuckled, and then saw Korra’s grimace. “Oh man, not another headache?”  
Korra just scowled.  
“Did you get that prescription I gave you, or did you just...” Kya didn’t bother to finish the question. “You didn’t. Korra, if that’s not how you want to deal with it, fine. I can try and find another solution. Until then will you let me try to help you out a bit? You put your body through hell on a semi weekly basis. It needs looking after if you want to outlast my dad. Give it some TLC every once in a while.”  
“Still single, Kya.”  
Kya laughed again. “TLC, Korra. Tender, loving care. Not just tender loving, although I’d suggest you getting as much of _that_ as you can too.”  
Korra groaned.

Kya didn’t seem to understand basic human body language, leaning against the kitchen counter with her own drink as Korra steadfastly ignored her. Eventually Korra gave up, setting down the by now half-drunk beer.  
“Do your worst.”

And that was how Korra ended up lying face down on the kitchen table with the oven gloves folded up as a makeshift pillow. Kya flexed her fingers and started the frankly marathon task of loosening the knots in Korra’s neck and back.

Pema entered, a grumpy Ikki and Meelo in tow. Pema didn’t even bat an eyelash. She ruffled Korra’s hair on the way past to start preparing dinner. Ikki dug a straw out, slipping it into Korra’s beer. Korra turned her head, managing to catch the end of the straw between her teeth. She gave a contented little sigh as she took a slurp.

Tenzin entered the kitchen to find his children quite literally shredding vegetables, his ward lying on the table and his sister sticking her elbow into his ward’s back.

After dinner Korra joined Kya down at the pagoda near the water’s edge for a moonlight beer away from Meelo’s antics.   
“You know what you need, kid?” Kya said, leaning against the rail.  
“If you say ‘to get laid’...” Korra began, but Kya shook her head.  
“Someone outside all this,” She gave an indistinct wave at the island. “People you can go be a stupid dumbshit twenty year old with and not have to worry about the fate of the planet. I mean, wasn’t that half the point of you going to university? To blend, to have a little normality?”  
“’spose.” Korra looked across at Yue Bay, glittering in the moonlight. Kya nudged her.  
“Getting laid would probably help as well.”  
“ _Kya!_ ”

 

The beeping from her phone made Asami jump and hit her head on the underside of the car. She groaned, rolling herself out from underneath on the creeper board. She’d left her phone up on the workbench, out of harm’s way. Going on the throb from her forehead that hadn’t really panned out quite as she’d hoped. Asami headed for the bench, stepping round tools and discarded parts, wiping the worst of the oil and grease off on her overalls. The first thing she saw on the phone was the time. _Oops_. Tomorrow morning...or this morning...was going to need an awful lot of coffee. Ah well. _Dad’s probably wondering if I’m coming in tonight or...hang on._ The name on the screen was certainly not ‘Dad’. It was probably supposed to have been ‘Korra’ but actually read ‘Korrras’.   
_“Hey, sami! We’re heading to the Giggling Squid after class tomorrow, and you’re more than welcome to come!”  
_ The phone buzzed again.  
_“Uh, sorry if you were sleeping and this woke you up. My sleep scehdule’s a little erratic.”_ As was her spelling, apparently. The phone went off again.  
_“And if you were I should really stop texting.”  
“Ah, crap, sorry.”  
“...repeat until dead, apparently. I’m just going to dig a hole and hide in it real quick.”  
_ Asami laughed. She typed a quick response.   
_“You’re adorable when you’re flustered.”_  
She hit send. _Wait, adorable?_ She followed up hastily.  
_“Don’t worry, you didn’t wake me. And I’d love to get a drink tomorrow.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I made you wait so long for such a short update! Korra's being quite the grouch this chapter, hopefully a few drinks with Asami will get her back to her usual, more cheerful self. Or at least stop Kya teasing her every five minutes.
> 
> As always, comments and feedback are extremely gratefully received, even if you just want to channel your inner war boy and yell "MEDIOCRE!" at me.


	5. The Giggling Squid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Krew have a much needed night out. It's quite the educational experience all round.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay! Between work and graduating I haven't had much free time lately.

The Giggling Squid was an underground cocktail bar not far from the city centre. Asami took off her jacket as she entered, scanning the room for familiar faces. She found Bolin, waving enthusiastically from a booth. Both he and Opal were wearing green; she was wearing a dark emerald strappy top, showing off her slender shoulders, and he was wearing an olive button up shirt. Asami slid in opposite them, adding a splash of red to the table.  
“Korra got held up,” Opal explained. “She’ll be here soon as she can.”  
She said it casually but Asami frowned. This was Korra, after all.  
“When you say held up, are we talking delayed or mugged here?”  
Opal smiled.  
“Just delayed.”

 

Korra lowered the man back to his feet gently, resisting the urge to toss him into the nearest wall. He darted off into the dark, leaving the Avatar alone in the alleyway with her growing frustrations. It had been easy last time. Equalists walked around in broad daylight in their bloody masks and scarves. Finding them hadn’t been the problem, avoiding them had been. Now she was stuck with turning over some very unsavoury rocks to try and sniff them out. Some rocks, like the one that had just scurried away, would doubtless leave her in desperate need of washing her hands but it was unavoidable. There had been at least five deaths in Ba Sing Se, and spirits only knew how many across the world. She’d let it happen. She’d let it start again. And she was damn well going to stop it again too. Korra’s phone buzzed in her inside pocket. A message from Opal.  
_“Are you coming or what?”  
_ Korra frowned at the device. Was she... _ah, crap._

She was at least a mile from the bar and already late. She shoved her earphones in, picking something fast-paced. Her phone buzzed again. __  
“Asami’s asking after you. :P”  
Korra stared at the emoticon for a moment, trying to decipher exactly what Opal was implying. She shoved the phone back inside her jacket and hit play.

Republic City was a city in a perpetual hurry, meaning it was damn near impossible for any one individual to actually get anywhere fast, especially not if you were polite, cautious or just plain unwilling to lead with the shoulder. Korra was none of these things. She slalomed through the crowds and street sellers, she dived down the back alleys that seemed to exist purely for parents to warn their children against entering. She didn’t break pace to cross the roads, darting through the screeching tyres and blaring horns, leaping clean over the bonnet of an irate taxi driver who seemed to think indicators were an optional extra, swinging round lampposts to speed up her cornering.

She made it to Giggling Squid in record time, pausing in the doorway to catch her breath. A pair of men in suits passed her, and she was suddenly very aware that her outfit of a tight blue t shirt and dark jeans might not have been quite in keeping with the Squid’s normal dress code. She’d dressed for a two hundred seater lecture theatre she’d skulked at the back of, and a potential street fight. She’d forgotten all about her ‘forget about reality’ evening this morning. Maybe she had time to change... She got another text; _“If you’re not near in ten I’m telling her about what happened with the cactus juice in the desert last summer.”  
_ Oh _hell_ no.

Opal looked up from her phone in time to see Korra vault the back of the sofa, landing between a very surprised Asami and the wall. She pointed a warning finger at Opal.  
“If you ever breathe a word about that I’ll tell everyone about the hogmonkey and the hot spring.”  
Opal sized up Korra, trying to see if she was bluffing. Korra’s stare was steel. Opal backed down. It wasn’t worth the risk. Asami looked slightly disappointed at the truce, but the night was young. She’d ask again a few drinks down the line.

Bolin slammed a fistful of yuans down on the sticky bar top and instantly regretted it, peeling them back off.  
“Hi.” He beamed at the barmaid, trying to wipe the worst of the spillage off the notes surreptitiously. “Can I get...uh...a Kyoshi Island iced tea, a Polar Punch, a Chi Blocker and a...” he glanced down at the menu again “A Dancing Dragon, please?”  
He looked back to the table as the drinks were made. Asami was talking animatedly, but Bolin couldn’t hear over the music and the buzz of dozens of conversations. Korra was leaning her chin on her hand, listening with an expression of acutely attentive befuddlement. Asami paused, apparently chuckling at her own joke. Korra just grinned awkwardly, miming the joke flying over her head.  

Asami was still trying to explain when Bolin set her drink in front of her, trying to draw an exploded diagram of an engine on a napkin with a sharpie. It wasn’t going well; the sketch would have been complicated enough even without the ink bleeding into the paper. Korra was trying valiantly to follow. Opal was watching the proceedings with an amused expression.  
“...and _that’s_ where the gearhead goes! Get it?” Asami finished triumphantly, looking up to a trio of blank faces. “Still nothing, huh?”  
Korra looked sheepish.  
“Sorry. Machines aren’t really my thing; I’ve never even had a snowmobile, never mind a car. Opal’s got no excuse though!”  
Opal scowled.  
“My brother is the engineer, not me. You don’t expect me to be able to understand Huan’s work, why would I get what Bataar does?”  
“Oh?” Asami turned to Opal, her interest piqued. “What does he do? Who does he work for?”  
Opal blushed and mumbled something. Bolin nudged her and Opal repeated herself a little louder.  
“Metal Clan International. My dad sort of...owns it.”  
“Metal Clan?” Asami was impressed. “Wait. Metal Clan? As in...” She stopped.  
“As in Beifong, yes,” Opal supplied, a little wearily. “Suyin is my mother. Don’t even start.”  
“Hey, trust me. I get the whole ‘living up to the predecessor thing’.” Asami raised her glass. “To being the legacy kids?” She suggested. Opal laughed and bumped her glass against it. Asami didn’t see the smirk Bolin gave Korra, or the answering middle finger.

The drinks slipped down entirely too easily, as is always the case with cocktails. They traded sips, comparing drinks with great enthusiasm, working their way through the extensive menu.  Korra leant back against the wall, with its encircling painting of the eponymous giggling squid painted on white on the black walls. Asami looked fantastic tonight, in her dark red silk shirt and tight black jeans. Korra missed her mouth with her glass, sloshing rum down her chin. She set it down and wiped her mouth hastily.  
“Drinking problem?” Asami asked, with a grin. Korra didn’t dare make eye contact with Opal. She could _feel_ the smirk.

Asami and Korra were getting a round in when Asami glanced over her shoulder and swore, turning quickly back to the bar and hunching a little, as if that would somehow make her less distinctive among the crowd of office workers in their suits. Korra turned to see what the problem was. A loose knot of people were descending the stairs into the increasingly crowded bar.  
“You ok?” Korra asked, already sizing up the newcomers. Two guys, two girls. None of them looked more than they could handle.  
“My ex.” Asami explained, taking the drinks. “Someone I’d really rather not deal with today.”  
Korra took the other two glasses.  
“C’mon. We can hide in the booth.”

A quick check as they reached the table proved their efforts were in vain. The four were heading their way.  
“Damn, damn, damn!” Asami cursed. “Never got the hint when we together either. Sorry guys, I’m really just...”  
“Hey Asami,” Korra cut in. “breathe, yeah?” She stood in front of Asami, hands on her shoulders. Asami looked down at her.  Neither of them saw Opal get up and walk up behind Asami. “Relax.” Korra said gently. “It’s not like-FUCK!”  
Opal had shoved Asami hard in the small of the back, sending her toppling onto Korra who grabbed her rather than attempting to stay upright herself, collapsing back onto the bench seat and taking Asami with her.  
“There.” Opal said, with a self-satisfied smirk, as Korra managed to push them back into an approximation of a sitting position with one arm, the other supporting Asami. Supporting Asami who was now very much on top of her. “Instant ex repellent.”

Asami looked down at the woman pinned beneath her who seemed to be slightly stunned, and it wasn’t from contact with the seat.  
“Do you mind?” She asked quickly, and Korra shook her head dumbly. Asami sat herself a little more comfortably in Korra’s lap, leaning forward to rest her forehead against Korra’s, angling her head so that their faces were obscured by a mane of raven hair.  
“I’m sorry about this,” she whispered.  
“It’s...” Korra swallowed. “It’s fine. What are friends for, hey?”  
One of Asami’s slid up from Korra’s shoulder to cup her cheek. All the more convincing for their audience, of course.    
“What indeed?”

Asami’s eyes were extraordinarily green. Korra wasn’t quite sure why she hadn’t noticed until now but they weren’t even six inches from her own right now and it was very hard not to see just how green they were. Huan would have cried in artistic delight at the colour. The eyes narrowed a little as Asami’s fingertip found the small scar near Korra’s temple, hidden in her hairline. She traced it with a delicate finger, an immaculately painted nail. _Immaculate_. Yes, that was the right word for Asami. Smooth and polished, like Korra assumed newly made machines must be. _It must be nice, to be like that..._  
“Asami?” came a voice, breaking through Korra’s reverie.    
“ _Un-fucking-believable_ ,” Asami swore in an incredulous whisper, her breath warm on Korra’s cheek. She sat up, pulling away. “Tam!” Asami actually managed to sound happy to see them. To see...Korra blinked. Asami actually sounded happy to see _her_. Huh.

Tam was slender, her figure accentuated by a well-cut business suit, short hair immaculately styled. It was easy to see the attraction.  
“It’s been a while, Sato,” Tam smiled, as if Asami wasn’t currently sat in someone else’s lap.  
“Has it?” Asami asked politely, and Tam’s smile slipped a few teeth.

The two exchanged small talk. At a slight touch and pleading look from Asami Korra found her nerve and wrapped one arm round her waist.  
“Hi there.” She cut in. “I’m Korra.”  
Tam looked her up and down. Her eyes weren’t as green as Asami’s. _Now why had she thought to compare that?_  
“Water Tribe girl, huh?”  
“What gave me away?” Korra deadpanned. Opal giggled. It might have been the cocktails laughing for her.  
“I spent a lot of time down in the South Pole.” Tam announced, with a fake casual air. “After the war. My firm helped with the peace treaty.”  
The giggling just got louder. And spread. Asami smiled along with it, a little bemused but trying not to show it.  
“I’m sure Chief Tonraq was most grateful for your efforts,” Korra managed, straining valiantly to keep her poker face in place. She was failing, but it was the thought that counted. Except it really, really wasn’t.  Tam finally seemed to get that her proclamation wasn’t being as well received as she’d thought. Or perhaps it was Asami’s fingers interlocking with Korra’s that got the message across at last. She made an excuse about her friends having got drinks and attempted to make a dignified exit. Unfortunately dignity was always in short supply when the group was out and about.

“So...what exactly was so funny about Tam and the tribe war?” Asami asked, and she felt Korra tense slightly.  
“Some other night,” Korra promised, a deflection that, while telling Asami nothing at all, told her entirely too much. Asami didn’t press the issue, just settled herself a little less possessively and a lot more comfortably on Korra’s lap.

Opal glanced over her shoulder to the table, where Asami was absentmindedly toying with Korra’s fingers. Bolin was chatting to them, apparently as oblivious as Asami to the fact she didn’t need to be sat on Korra’s knee any longer.

“Good to see you guys again,” The barmaid set the row of drinks down in front of Opal. “I was almost starting to worry.”  
She passed her hand over Korra’s Everstorm, sending the mixture inside swirling together.  
“Don’t worry, Kamma,” Opal handed over the cash. “We’ll be messing up your bar for a good while yet.”  
The barmaid smiled. She tried to hand back the change, but Opal waved it away. She dropped it in the tip jar instead.  
“Fair warning. You’ve got ten, then it’s coming on.”  
Opal paled.  
“Oh you’re kidding...”  
“Nope. So drink up!”  
Opal all but sprinted for the table.

Ten minutes and forty eight seconds later the music spiked in volume. Guitars and pipes, folk rock at its best, or worst. Bolin caught the tune at once, an earsplitting grin forming on his face. Asami’s foot was bouncing to the beat by the third bar.  
“ _I’m a sailor pegged!”_ The patrons roared as one, “ _And I’ve lost my leg! Climbing up the topsails, I’ve lost my leg!”*_  
Bolin was already pulling Opal out of the booth, joining in the broiling mass of clumsy amateur jiggers.  
“ _I’m shipping up to Zaofu, whoa-oh-oh!”_ The bar sang. Asami looked down at Korra’s hand, drumming out the beat on the table top, and got to her feet, taking her hand and leading her out of the booth.

Asami didn’t know the song. It didn’t matter. The beat was simple, the tune catchy, the words limited to little more than “ _I’m shipping up to Zaofu!”_ , and all she had to do was follow Bolin’s exuberant lead which mainly consisted of hanging on to Opal’s hands as they part jigged, part galloped, part span and part stumbled round the bar, bouncing off good natured drinkers.  
“I’m shipping up to Zaofu, whoa-oh-oh!” Asami sang as Korra crashed against her, laughing as she did. The song was over far too soon, but they were on their feet now. It was Bolin who once again took the lead, clambering atop a bar stool as he recognised the intro to the next song. He pointed down at Opal on the floor below him, snapping to the beat with his free hand.  
“ _Oh my love, let me be your fire, we’re a thousand miles up and I’m ‘bout to get higher! Feel my heart beating out my chest, you’re the only prayer I need to make me feel blessed!”**  
_ Opal climbed up onto the nearest stool, turning Bolin’s little solo into a duet. They weren’t the only ones. The crowd had the chorus; “ _Singing Oh ooh oh ooh! Oh ooh oh ooh! Oh ooh oh ooh! Oh ooh oh ooh!_ ”

Kama caught Korra’s eye, and patted the bar top meaningfully. Korra was only too happy to. Asami looked up at her, half impressed, half disbelieving. Korra struck a pose on the bar top, leaning over to mime a serenade.  
“ _Rest your head like it was made of stone. Next to mine, darling, lay your bones. I hold you closer, let me show-oh-oh-oh...”_ Korra held out a hand. Asami didn’t hesitate. She grabbed it, feeling calluses, feeling strength, and Korra pulled her up beside her without any apparent effort. They tried for an awkward shuffle on the narrow ledge, between glasses and pots of straws and lime wedges. The three benders shared a glance as they hit the next verse. “ _We'll shape this world like it was meant to be. Made of clay, for only you & me. Awake with you is better than a dream. Better than a dream, hey!”_

Bolin stepped precariously from stool to stool, Opal following to join the other two on the bar. Bolin steadied himself against the ceiling, the condesation of a hundred energetic drunks had made it a little damp. _“Oh, my love, let me be your fire! We're a thousand miles up and 'bout to get higher! Feel my heart beating out my chest, You're the only prayer I need to make me feel blessed!”_ He raised his hands, as if he were actually a performer, and the amused crowd sang back. _“Singing Oh ooh oh ooh! Oh ooh oh ooh! Oh ooh oh ooh! Oh ooh oh ooh!”_

Asami stumbled a little on a wet patch, and Korra caught her about the waist once more. Asami moved closer, her hands on Korra’s shoulders. “ _Safe and sound is all you'll ever know. Shake the ground the higher that we'll go. We'll take the stars and show ‘em how to glow! Yeah, cause life is more than just a waiting game. We're not waiting ‘til it's time to play. The only rules I play by are you, Play by you! Oh, my love, let me be your fire! We're a thousand miles up and 'bout to get higher. Feel my heart beating out my chest, you're the only prayer I need to make me feel blessed! Singing Oh ooh oh ooh! Oh ooh oh ooh! Oh ooh oh ooh! Oh ooh oh ooh!”_  
They were basically flush against each other by now.  
“ _I won't be afraid, if my spirit fades. 'Cause when I see your face I know that I am saved! I won't be afraid, if my spirit fades. 'Cause when I see your face, I'll say,”_ Korra was getting rather carried away, spinning Asami round on the bar.  
“ _You're the only prayer I need to make me feel blessed! You're the only prayer I need to make me feel blessed! You make me feel blessed, you make me feel blessed, you're the only prayer I need to make me feel blessed!”_  
The music stopped. Korra was breathing hard and Asami was no better.  
“You want to get down?” Korra asked, and Asami shook her head.  
“Don’t you dare.”  
Korra grinned.

They cavorted on the bar top, in a haze of cocktails and music and cheers and youth.  At one point Kamma tapped Korra’s shin, passing her and Asami up a drink each. On the house, of course. They drank, they stumbled, they sang, they linked arms and serenaded the group of office workers who had climbed onto their tall tables and stools in answer to them. Korra almost didn’t see Tam watching them from the edge of the bar. Kamma had already spotted her though. She tugged at the Avatar’s trouser leg again, and Korra leant down.  
“Stick the landing,” Kamma told her, “And it’ll be worth it.”  
Korra was never one to turn down a challenge.

The familiar opening chords of Sixth Chakra Blind*** boomed out. Korra didn’t look at her companions. They knew what was going to happen.  
“ _All I want right now is the time, where we slept on the floor.”_ She pointed at Asami and Asami pointed right back. “ _You said, "Right here, right now, is all that we're living for. I got the velocity, and all I need now is the mass. I just want you to ask._ ” Korra resisted the urge to lock eyes with Tam. “ ** _Can you take me?_** _Into days I never knew? Let's start a riot, let's start a riot, me and you, 'cause a riot's overdue!”_  
Bolin jumped down from the bar. The laminate was slick with spilled drink and condensation and his feet slid out from under him, landing him on his ass.

 _“Now these days I wonder, why we're holding back on bliss. You blast from me everything you see...”_ Korra’s voice faltered. Asami’s did not. “ _I just wanna give you a kiss. I want the infidel's head on a pike. Riding on my motorbike. Oh, you and me are alike.”_  
Opal leapt down with rather more grace, pulling Bolin to his feet and planting one on him.  
_“Can you take me? Into days I never knew? Let's start a riot, let's start a riot, me and you, 'cause a riot's overdue!”_

 _“Let's get it bigger and wider! I'm the mega collider! When I take you, into days I never knew! Let's start a riot, let's start a riot, me and you, 'cause a riot's overdue!”  
_ The tempo slowed a little. Korra lowered Asami back to the floor. She raised her hands, and the clap started. It looked like she was trying to psyche herself up for something. Or maybe she was just showboating.

 _“Bust you out, I've come to bust you out. I've come to bust you out, I've come. Live in doubt, no longer live in doubt. No longer live in doubt, no. Humbly now, oh yes humbly now,”_  Korra’s grin was anything but humble. “ _I ask for no resistance, oh, no resistance. Maybe now, oh, just maybe now, we can bridge the distance. 'Cause it's so, it's so big, big...”_

Korra jumped. No, Korra somersaulted. It was ridiculous. It was perfect. She landed with gymnastic precision on the slippery bar floor, arms raised in a perfect Y shape. The bar cheered, drowning out the next chorus as Kamma climbed up onto the recently vacated bar, a bottle in her hand.  
_“Into days I never knew,”_  
“Do you think she earned it?” Kamma bellowed, and the bar cheered in response. __  
“Let's start a riot (I want a riot), let's start a riot, me and you, 'cause a riot's overdue.”  
Korra threw back her head and let Kamma pour the spirit in to her open mouth.  
_“Don't back down, don't compromise. Don't close your eyes. Here it is, do or die, and you still believe the lie. You still believe the lie.”_  
Korra sputtered and Kamma took the bottle away. The Avatar wiped her mouth on the back of her hand, throwing one arm around Asami’s shoulders.  
_“And the world is for the meek. And this mouse is gonna squeak.”_  Korra paused, accepting a glass of water from Kamma, letting the last few lines go unsung as far as she was concerned. Asami just beamed at her, swaying with her.  
_“I am dying to be freaked. Yes, I am dying to be freaked.”_

They didn’t get back up on the bar. It wasn’t long before Kamma turned the lights on, and they stumbled up into the chill night air. Asami pulled her jacket round her with a shiver. Opal tucked in tight against Bolin. Korra didn’t seem to mind the temperature as they started ambling slowly towards the bus stop. And then the heavens opened.

Asami hadn’t planned to go home with them. She wasn’t sure that had ever been decided. She’d just gone from trying to use her jacket as a makeshift umbrella for her and Korra (it hadn’t been very effective; the pair of them had been soaked within minutes as they half ran, half splashed through the sodden streets chasing after a shrieking Bolin and a laughing Opal) to arriving on the doorstep of Opal’s student halls.

The building, in the Yangchen borough, was one of the nicer student accommodations. Opal’s flat had a shared kitchen and living area, bathroom, and six connected study bedrooms. Opal disappeared into hers, bringing back an armful of blankets and spare clothing as Bolin pulled the cushions off the armchairs and the back of the sofa to create two reasonably comfortable looking beds.

Korra came out of the bathroom still trying to dry off her hair. She really should have knocked before entering the common area. Asami had her back to her as she pulled the borrowed t-shirt over her head. Korra looked away from the pale expanse of Asami’s back. She double checked Asami had finished changing before making a show of entering, fetching them both a glass of water from the kitchen before collapsing gratefully into her cushions, face first. She didn’t even hear Asami climb into her own bed.

It was not Asami’s style to complain. And really, she was fine. She was fine. It was just that this room was absolutely fucking freezing and her hair was still damp and the blankets Opal had so thoughtfully provided weren’t enough. She was entirely too aware her circulation was on the shitty side, even when sober. She rubbed her upper arms, trying to get a little warmth, but it wasn’t enough. Alcohol and need overrode politeness. She reached out an arm, shaking Korra’s shoulder slightly. The other girl jolted awake at the slight touch, like she hadn’t drunk half a liquor cabinet.  
“Wuzzgoinon?” Korra mumbled, trying to focus in the dark. “’sami? You ok? Not gonna puke...”  
“Heating.” Asami said abruptly, then clarified. “Do you know how to work the heating in this place?”  
“It’s all controlled centrally, sorry.” Korra told her, and even in the dark she could see Asami’s face fall. “Hey, it’s ok.”  
It really wasn’t. Asami pulled the blanket tighter, wondering if it was too late to call a cab. She didn’t even notice Korra moving about until she felt her own cushions move. She turned. Korra had pushed her bedding next to Asami’s. She jabbed herself in the chest with a thumb.  
“Human hot water bottle,” Korra announced proudly. “C’mere. Can’t have you freezing cos of my stupid bar.”  
Asami hesitated. But she was damp and cold and she could practically feel the heat radiating off Korra. She scooted a little closer, and found herself being pulled against the warm body, the blanket laid over both of them. Korra’s hands rubbed briskly and entirely decently up and down the length of her back as Asami rested her head against a broad shoulder.  
“Thanks. Not just for this. Thanks for tonight. I had a great time.”  
Korra yawned hugely.  
“What are friends for, right?”

 

 

*All due apologies to Dropkick Murphy and "Shipping Up To Boston"  
** Ditto to The Score and "Oh My Love"  
*** The less Third Eye Blind and "Can You Take Me" know about this the better. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well they're going to feel all kinds of rough in the morning. If you want to critique my writing, my music taste, or just guess how many little bits of this scene are at least semi-autobiographical feel free! (I'll give you a hint; I can't somersault). I'm also on tumblr as spudking.


	6. Blaze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting a little too hot for Korra to handle.

“Ssh!” Opal hissed.  
“Oh come on, they’re dead to the world,” Bolin replied, between the electronic click of fake shutters on his phone camera. “And this is just too freaking cute not to document!”  
“Post those photos anywhere, Bolin,” Korra growled without opening her eyes. “And I will make you regret it in ways only I can.”  
It was, at least at present, a hollow threat. Asami had moved in the night, trapping Korra beneath her. It wasn’t that she couldn’t have lifted the woman off her; it wouldn’t have even been an effort, but Korra didn’t want to wake her. Still, she’d quite like to get feeling back in her arm sometime soon.

Mercifully Asami started to stir before Korra had to worry about amputation. It was slow at first, until she realised just how much she’d snuggled against Korra. Then she snapped awake, pulling away so fast she fell off the other side of the cushions, taking the inadequate blankets with her. Korra grumbled as her skin was exposed to the open air. She was only wearing a t-shirt that had to have been bought for Bolin; dark green and bearing the message ‘Zaofu Rocks!’, and a pair of boxers with what turned out to be, on closer inspection, ‘Thursday’ written round the waistband. It hadn’t been accurate last night and it wasn’t much more accurate this morning. At least the day began with a T.

Korra sat up, her stretching accompanied by a loud series of pops from various joints. The kettle started to boil as Korra dragged herself upright. Opal was wearing an oversized hoody, almost certainly also Bolin’s, over her pyjamas. Bolin appeared to have bucked the trend of wearing his clothes and had apparently tried to squeeze into something of Opal’s. The effect was something like a veneer of white paint over his torso and the complete failure to cover both the last inch or two of his stomach and the very suspicious looking bruise on his neck. Asami was somehow managing to be the most put together of the lot, even in jogging bottoms and a crumpled t shirt. Somehow even most of her makeup had survived.

Asami cradled the cup of black tea while Korra and Bolin shovelled down Polar Puffs. The box had a cartoon polar bear dog in sunglasses on the outside and more sugar than a confectionary aisle inside. There was probably more nutritional content in the box itself and just looking at them made Opal’s teeth ache. Unfortunately for Opal’s dental wellbeing Bolin loved them, which meant there was always a box in the cupboard. Still, at least he had an equal appetite when it came to kale.

 

Lectures that afternoon were a nightmare. It was a drizzly and miserable day, and the three weren’t feeling much better. Asami joined Opal and Korra near the back of the hall, joining in their shift-pattern slumber. One would write until their head started to nod, at which point the other was prodded sharply in the ribs and took over duties. With three they could all nap a little longer. It took a little while afterwards to thread it all together but it was a tried and tested method.

 

Asami had to dash off at the end of lectures, taking the whole stack of notes with the promise to type them up and email the pair copies. Apparently she had some work she’d been putting off, necessitating a trip to her father’s office. Not long after Opal and Bolin made their excuses and sloped off for some ‘them’ time, which Korra suspected would involve adding to the still prominent bruise on Bolin’s neck, but jokes aside she didn’t mind. She had her own work to be getting on with.

 

Korra perched on top of the skyscraper, listening intently to her police scanner. It was raining again, but this time Korra was shielded from the elements. She had a raincoat, a shapeless black mac that would have comfortably fit her father, but diverting the rain around her was far more effective.

There was no shortage of trouble in a city like Republic City. The trouble was finding something she could help with. Something she could help with and not end up splashed all over the front page of the Republic City Times. Or, more likely, the rag that was the Daily Sun. She knew she should never have tackled that pile-up a few months back. The picture had been grainy and completely useless for identify her but Tenzin had been _furious_.

In the end Korra could have left the scanner at home. The explosion lit the night sky. She barely heard the details begin to filter through her earpiece. _Industrial district. Unexplained blast. Unknown casualties. All services on route._ Korra unzipped her coat, letting the wind catch it. Ok, maybe she shouldn’t have watched so many superhero movers with Bolin. But she couldn’t deny, as she leapt from the parapet, they did have some good ideas. _All services on route? You have **no** idea._

It would have been easier with a glider, but there was no easy way to carry around a six foot pole without attracting attention. The makeshift coat-cape was clumsier by far and negotiating the buildings without blowing out windows had been a hard earned skill, but there was something truly glorious about soaring through the damp air and city smoke. No passerby, if they happened to look up, would be able to pick her out against the dark clouds. For just a moment she allowed herself to truly enjoy the feeling. Then it was pack to business.

Korrra landed heavily on the far side of the building. Emergency vehicles were screaming in on all sides, blue and red light painting the smoke. And there was so much smoke. The entire warehouse seemed to be ablaze, flames licking through the upper windows, smoke billowing out. She could feel the heat on her face even at this distance. Fire fighters were setting up a perimeter but Korra couldn’t imagine a few hoses were going to do much good against the raging inferno. Her phone buzzed. ‘Chief Hardass’ had sent a message.  
_“Assuming you’ve ignored my express instructions for the thousandth time there are thought to be around twenty people inside the Future Industries factory. Do what you can. Take no risks. Will pass on updates as they arrive.”  
_ Korra tapped out a quick message.  
_“Avatar on scene.”_

Korra brought chunks out the wall to use as handholds, scrambling up to an already cracked window. She knew enough about blowback and structural damage not to risk tearing a hole in the wall, and that would have made things a little too obvious.

Entering the factory was like jumping into an oven. The air inside was thick with choking smoke. She formed a bubble of air around her head to let herself breathe, diverting the heat around herself so she didn’t fry on the metal gantry.   
_“Count puts it at 19. Do what you can and get out.”_

 

Lin Beifong did not like being on the sidelines. She did not like it even a little bit. Unfortunately for her the fire fighters currently controlled the scene, and there was nothing she could do to help. Korra was somewhere inside, dragging workers to where the rescue crews could actually find them. Lin itched to get in there with her, but she was stuck. Useless. Well, save for one thing. Trying to look causal about it Lin stomped her foot, sending a pulse through the earth. She sent another text.  
_“There’s basement levels. I can’t get a fix on anyone. 8 left inside. Structure compromised. Hurry.”  
_ There was no reply.

 

Korra’s boots were melting beneath her feet. She had a worker over each shoulder but without her arms her bending was restricted. The smoke was burning her eyes, her throat, scorching her lungs. Stopping wasn’t an option. Her foot caught something and she toppled, landing on something that seared across her skin. She rolled clear, dragging the unconscious bodies after her, taking a moment to create an air pocket. Waiting wasn’t an option. It wasn’t. She just needed to breathe, that was all. She just needed to breathe. She didn’t hear or feel the phone going off in her pocket, didn’t see the message.  
_“GET OUT!”_

 

Asami had left the office the second the call came in. She was now stood with her father at the tape, waiting anxiously for any news. Hiroshi had his phone to his ear, yelling at the poor soul on the other end about contacting families. Most of the employees had been pulled from the inferno, dragged burned, bewildered and coughing into the night by fire fighters, but there still two unaccounted for. The longer they waited the worse prospects looked. Even as she watched an urgent cry went up, the fire fighters sprinting out of the way as a segment of the wall sagged and collapsed. Hiroshi’s arm came up as if to shield Asami from the debris and the flash of fire, but they were well out of range.

Something came tumbling out over the rubble. No, not something. Someone. Someones. They made it all of three steps clear before crumpling. Rescue workers were already running to them and Asami found herself squeezing her father’s hand. It didn’t look good.

If anyone had asked Lin would have hotly denied that she was panicking as she ran to the ambulances. She certainly would have denied it after she spotted Korra sat on the back step of the ambulance, oxygen mask and scowl firmly in place. She was barely recognisable, caked in soot and dirt and dust, the grime turning into a paste in the rain. Lin slowed to a walk, regaining her professional demeanour. She gave a brusque nod to the paramedic who was trying to shine a light in an uncooperative Korra’s smoke-reddened eyes.   
“This is the one who dragged the last two out?” Lin tried to make it sound like a question. The paramedic nodded. “I’m going to need a quick word.” He hesitated. “Police business, can’t wait,” she added firmly. The paramedic relented. Most would, in the scarred face of Chief Beifong.  
“Fine. You got two minutes.” He turned to Korra. “Mask stays on though, you got it? And then we need to get you to hospital, get those burns fixed up.”  
Lin’s eyebrows drew together. She’d missed it at first glance. Most of Korra’s right leg seemed to be charred, and by the way her coat was clinging to her it had melted. Lin just hoped it had only fused to clothing, not skin. Korra caught her gaze and shrugged sheepishly. The move made her flinch.

“I told you to get out!” Lin’s was low. The paramedic had given them a little space, but they could easily be overheard. Korra pulled the mask off.  
“I got out, didn’t I?” She replied, voice raspy. “I’ll be fine. Had...” She tried to hide the cough. It didn’t work. She forced the words out through gritted teeth. “Had worse.”  
Lin took the wrist that held the oxygen mask and pressed it firmly against Korra’s face. Her expression didn’t change as the Avatar took a few shaky breaths. When she spoke again her voice was softer.  
“You know you can’t go to hospital, right?”  
“I know.” Korra sagged. “Can’t risk being linked to anything. Can’t get my face seen. I’ll wait til we’re a distance, then I’ll jump.”  
Lin nodded.   
“You did good, kid.” She added, like it was an afterthought. Korra grinned and Lin rolled her eyes. “Go see Kya. The second you get to the island. Got it? If I find out you delayed I’ll kick your...”  
Lin’s radio squawked.   
“ _Hey chief, Sato and Sato want to see their guys and they’re not taking no for an answer, just ducked the tape._ ”  
“Time to go.” Korra sighed, pulling the mask back into place. Lin shouted something about breathing difficulties to the paramedic and he was at Korra’s side at once, helping her into the back of the ambulance. Korra wouldn’t be winning any Oscars any time soon but the medic was taking no chances. He climbed in, shutting one door. Lin stopped him. She could see Korra settling into the patient chair rather than the bed. Her pride demanded no less.  
“How is she?”  
“At a glance? Second to third degree burns, serious smoke inhalation. She’ll probably feel like hell for the next few days but she’ll live.”  
Lin nodded, pretending to make a note of it.

 

The pain came when the adrenaline started to dip. Korra gritted her teeth, refusing the offer of painkillers. She couldn’t afford the side effects, not right now. She could see the monitor report her spiking heart rate, and tried to ignore the paramedic’s concerned advice. She pulled the mask away from her face.  
“Where are we?” She asked, in an overplayed wheeze.   
“Shu street. Not far now.” He reassured her, guiding the mask back onto her face. _Not far? You have no idea._ Korra did feel rather bad as she undid her belt, calmly but firmly pushing the man into the opposite wall. She slid open the side door and leapt out into the road.

She mistimed the jump a little, the roll to absorb the impact coming to a premature end as she hit a lamp post. Ignoring the fact she’d now added a skinned elbow and protesting ribs to the shopping list of injuries she forced herself upright, darting down one alleyway and then the next, the shouts of the paramedic fading into the noise of the traffic. She paused, leaning against a wall as she hacked up a glob of blackened saliva. Yeah. She’d had better days.

 

Opal hadn’t heard the phone ring over the show playing on her laptop. Or the door buzzer that her flatmate answered. The first she knew of the night’s events was when someone hammered at her door. She paused the episode reluctantly, slipping out of Bolin’s cuddle. “Alright, alright, keep your hair on! What’s so damn important...fucking hell, Kor!”  
“Well that’s just rude.” Korra said, voice rough. She all but slid down the wall as her legs finally gave out, leaving a sooty smear on the magnolia paint. “Did you save me popcorn?”

 

It was lucky Opal had a car. It wasn’t too hard for the pair of them to manhandle Korra down to it, sliding her into the back seat. Opal joined her in the back, creating a denser air pocket to make it easier on Korra’s raw lungs as she filled them in on her night so far.  
“How about you guys?” She asked conversationally.  
“Watched another four-LEARN TO INDICATE YOU BASTARD!-episodes of the 100.” Bolin said from the front seat.  
“Nice.” Korra closed her eyes and focused on her breathing.

It was a short drive to the harbour, and a short boat ride to the island itself. The main ferry had stopped running for the night, but the White Lotus motorboat ran at any hour At least, for passengers such as themselves. Bolin took the helm, the White Lotus waterbender doing his best to ease the burns. Judging by Korra’s white knuckled grip on the boat seat he wasn’t doing too good of a job of it.  

 

 Korra swore and Kya apologised once again. Korra was sat in Kya’s healing tub, hunched forward as the healer tried to cut the coat and shirt, now fused into a single entity, off of her. Her feet and legs had already been freed, the soothing water a welcome relief. Anything was better than the burning; even the cold metal of the scissors against her back was an improvement. Kya was as gentle as she could be but every now and again the material tugged where it seared to Korra’s back. Kya could see the tension building as Korra tried to tough it out. She set down the scissors, sending cooling pulses of water across the damaged skin. Korra relaxed a little, enough for Kya to pick up the scissors again.

“There we go, sweetheart." Kya tossed the last chunk of material onto the pile, taking in the angry splotches of burns across her patient's skin. "Lean back for me?”  
Korra was only too happy to lower herself into the water. It was a little awkward for her to float in the small tub but she managed it. The pool began to glow as Kya started the healing in earnest. Korra closed her eyes as the pain started to ebb away.

Her fingers and toes had wrinkled long before Kya was done. Her feet, shins and back were still raw and tender, but she no longer felt like a sausage that had fallen through the barbeque grill. She just wished her lungs would ease up.

 

Kya stuck her head round Korra’s door on the way before she turned in. Naga was curled protectively at the foot of Korra’s bed. Kya wasn’t at all surprised to find that the polar bear dog wasn’t the only watcher. Ikki was tucked up against Naga’s flank with a blanket and Mr. Flopsy, her cuddly flying lemur. Meelo was lying on his back in the middle of the room, a giant snot bubble inflating and deflating with each breath. Jinora was tucked against the wall, still half awake. She gave Kya a sleepy nod. Korra’s breathing was a little laboured, a little rough, but it wasn’t too bad. Kya had no doubt that the overprotective clutch of siblings would fetch her in a heartbeat if that were to change.

 

The hollow shell of the factory was still smoking in places in the morning as Lin stalked through it, Mako gingerly picking his way through behind her. Something here stunk, and it wasn’t the smoke. The preliminary reports were infuriating. The source of the ignition was somewhere near the centre, but there were no records of anything particularly flammable being stored there. Nor were there any signs of accelerant. Lin paused, kneeling by one of a thousand twisted and unrecognisable lumps of metal. Whole assembly lines had warped and melted in the heat of the blaze.  
“How many people were in the building last night?” She asked Mako. He consulted his notepad.  
“Thirty. Eleven made it out under their own steam, the remaining nineteen rescued. Five are still in hospital but expected to make full recoveries.” He paused, expecting some kind of reaction from Lin. Bolin had filled him in about Korra’s involvement, but the Chief had yet to mention it. He gave up waiting.  “Short version, all bodies are accounted for. Why?”  
Lin beckoned him closer. She indicated the lump at her feet. Mako craned his head to get a better look. It was odd. If he squinted it looked almost like...  
“If everyone’s accounted for, whose skull is this?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably not the kind of hot you guys were hoping for, but hopefully it wasn't too much of a disappointment. Snuggling, superheroics and mysterious skulls! Korra's certainly having a very busy week so far. As always any feedback is gratefully received, either here or at spudking.tumblr.com


	7. Embers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra's still feeling the effects of her heroics, Mako isn't quite the world's greatest detective and Asami is the hero every library deserves.

Korra woke from a fractured night’s sleep to pain and stifling heat. She shoved the surprisingly heavy blanket off of her, and instantly regretted it. Meelo yelped as he hit the floor.   
“Remind me to have the boundaries talk with you,” Korra grumbled without malice. Her voice was rough, her throat dry and scratchy. No, not scratchy. Beyond scratchy. Clawed. _Duh, you got a chest full of smoke last night._ Korra swung her legs out of bed. Scorched feet protested as they took her weight but she got up anyway, stepping over Meelo who had already fallen asleep again. Breakfast was calling, even if she had to shuffle on bandaged feet to get there.

Korra lowered herself gingerly down next to Bolin, using his shoulder as a support. She was pouring herself a cup of tea to wet her tender throat when something like a stick poked her in the arm. She turned to see Bolin jabbing her with his chopsticks. He shook his head in mock seriousness, turning to other diners.  
“I’m sorry, ladies and gents, but the baked Avatar is totally overdone this morning.”  
“Ha bloody ha.” Korra shoved him. “Besides, I’m only baked when Kya...uh... _Anyway_ , morning! Ooh, steamed buns!”  
Korra focused on loading her plate, avoiding Tenzin’s disapproving stare.

Kya had no idea why her brother’s greeting was quite so frosty when she joined them for breakfast.

Opal checked her watch as the plates were cleared.  
“Damn. I gotta go or I’m going to be late to lectures.”  
Korra made to rise as well but Opal stopped her.  
“Babe, don’t take this the wrong way, but you smell like an incinerator, you sound like an eighty year old chain smoker and you look like streaky bacon. I’ll tell them you’re at home suffering through _another_ migraine.”  
“Cheers, Ope.”  
“Plus the missing eyebrow is kind of a giveaway,” She added. Korra’s hand came up, feeling frazzled skin.  
“Oh, for fuck’s sake!”  
“ _Korra!_ Language!”

 

Korra stripped off to her underwear, bandages and all, slipping into the tub with a groan and a splash.   
“What do you reckon, ‘nother two sessions?” she asked Kya, idly creating whirlpools with her fingers as the older woman kicked Korra’s abandoned trousers out of the way.   
“Three at least, assuming you don’t want scarring.”  
Korra made a face.   
“Got enough of that already, thanks.”

Kya made her sit up, spreading one hand over the top of Korra’s sternum, the other slightly lower on her back.  
“Breathe for me. Nice, deep breaths.”  
Korra obliged.   
“Been coughing much?”  
Korra shook her head.  
“Liar. Jinora said you spent half last night hacking your lungs up.”  
Korra scowled at this apparent betrayal.  
“Jinora takes after her dad too much. Always worrying. It was a couple of coughs, no big deal.”  
Kya rolled her eyes.  
“The Avatar title, and all expectations with it, stops at the door, Korra. I’m not gonna laugh, not going to judge you, I just need to know exactly what’s wrong. You’re not helping either of us if you pretend.”  
Korra looked down, a little ashamed. Kya splashed water in her face. “Oh, quit brooding. You forget, Zuko’s a friend. I’ve seen professional brooding. Watching you is just plain embarrassing. I’ll make something to soothe your throat when we’re done here, ok?”

 

Asami dropped into the seat next to Opal five minutes into the lecture. She looked round Opal, obviously looking for Korra in the packed hall.  
“Migraine,” Opal whispered and Asami winced in sympathy. “Traffic?”  
“I wish.” Asami was looking a little less polished than usual. In fact she looked beyond tired, her makeup not quite concealing the bags under her eyes. “I spent all night in the hospital. Not like that!” She added belatedly as Opal looked alarmed. “There was a fire in one of our factories last night. I was checking in on the ones who got hurt. They’re all going to make it, thank the spirits. And _then_ , after getting in at three fucking a.m., I had the police show up at nine because apparently the fire was suspicious.”  
Opal slid her cup of coffee down the bench to Asami.  
“Splash of milk and way too much sugar.”  
Asami took it gratefully, cradling the cup.  
“Opal, I think I love you.”

 Asami leaned a little closer as the lecturer struggled to open a link on the projector. It was physically painful to watch him copy and paste the hyperlink.   
“You want to hear something ridiculous?”  
“Aside from how this guy got a job?” Opal replied, as the lecturer somehow managed not to spot the clip was on mute and proceed to go back to the original link to re-copy it. The frustration in the room was palpable.  
“I think there was someone in the factory last night. Well, I _know_ there was someone in the factory last night, that’s in the report, but I think it was a bender.”Asami was too excited to notice Opal had frozen.

“H-how come?” Opal asked, just a beat too slow.   
“The workers. They all say the same. About the fire diverting round them, like it was being controlled.”  
_Damnit, Korra._  
“Did anyone get a good look at them?”  
“No.” Asami said, disappointed. Opal breathed an internal sigh of relief. “Just that they were some huge bloke, ripped as fuck, and wearing something like a cape.”  
“A cape.” Opal repeated flatly.  
“A cape!” Asami all but clapped her hands in glee. “You know what this means?”  
“A cape.”  
“Republic city has a bender superhero!”  
“A freaking _cape_?!”

“You know it probably wasn’t a cape, right?” Opal said, once she’d got a handle on herself. “I mean, it was pissing it down last night. Probably just a coat or a poncho or something.”  
“You’ve got no sense of adventure. As boring as the police, that’s you.” Asami mock-pouted. “How’d you explain the fire then?”  
“Simple. It didn’t, they just thought it did. I mean, if they were a firebender surely they could have got everyone out without them getting burned?”  
“Maybe,” Asami conceded. “Still, it would have to be one crazy son-of-a-bitch to run into a burning factory, firebending or not.”  
_You have no idea._

It was when they were in the slowly shuffling crowd out that Asami started to laugh.   
“Sorry. It’s just, well, I know they said it was a guy and all but,” She grinned. “Imagine if it was Korra!”  
“Imagine what was Korra?”  
“The mystery hero! I mean, suspicious absence the day after her heroics?”  
Opal forced a laugh.  
“That would be something. Sadly she’s not hanging out in her secret lair right now. Most likely she’s curled up in a little miserable ball with a pillow over her face.”

 

Mako hated the ferry. He really did. Boats were just not his thing. So of course he lived on a sodding island only accessible by boat. All he wanted to do was curl into a miserable little ball in the bottom of the ship but that was unfortunately out of the question. He tried to focus on the horizon without his companion noticing what he was doing. No luck.  
“You better not be about to spew, kid,” Lin hadn’t even opened her eyes. Mako shook his head and regretted it.

Mako was the first off the ferry, leaning heavily against the rock of the cliffs. Lin strode off the gangplank with her usual expression of annoyance at the universe in general for interrupting her day. Despite her apparent irritation she didn’t make immediately for the slope with the small knot of tourists, choosing to answer a few emails instead. When Mako had returned to his usual colour they made for the temple itself. The area they wanted was roped off, with a polite but firm sign declaring that the area beyond was closed to the public. They didn’t break step as they hopped over the rope.

 

There was a knock on Kya’s door. She paused in her work, letting the water fall back into the tub.  
“You ok like that?”  
Korra nodded. She could have been called a lot of things but body shy was not one of them.   
“Enter and face my wrath! Oh, hey Lin!”  
“Kya.” Lin stepped inside, Mako following. He immediately went red and looked hastily at the wall. It wasn’t that he was still hung up on Korra. Not at all. Their breakup had been the best possible thing for them as individuals, not to mention for their friendship. It was just still slightly distracting to see that much skin. That much toned muscle. Korra linked her fingers behind her head in an incredibly unhelpful movement.  
“You ok there, Mako?” Korra asked, her voice rawer than Mako had expected. The absence of her usual shit-eating-grin suggesting she really didn’t see the potential issue in being all barely clothed, fully flexed and in the tub in front of her ex. Mako tried to loosen his collar surreptitiously. He was a detective, damn it. He could be an adult.   
“Fine, thanks. You?”  
“I’m well.” _And there’s the grin._ “Medium well, in fact.”

Pleasantries aside they got down to business. It wasn’t even close to the weirdest interview Mako had ever done. He pulled out the special notepad, the one he saved for cases like this. Cases that weren’t to reach the official record. He perched on the edge of the bathtub.   
“Can we just go through what you did last night? What you saw?”  
“Fire, supercop.” Korra rasped sarcastically. “I saw a lot of fire.”  
Lin stepped forward.  
“This isn’t the time to be a smartarse, kid.” She growled. “Just answer the damn question and let us get on with our day.”  
Korra sat up. Water sloshed over the end of the tub, nearly splashing Mako.  
“Are you going to tell me what it is you’re looking for, or are you waiting to see if I incriminate myself? Because I thought, by now, we had at least a measure of trust here.”  
“Listen here you little...”  
Kya didn’t need to say anything. She just stood up straight, folding her arms. Lin stopped mid sentence. She heeded Kya’s silent summons to the far corner.

“If you’re going to keep interfering with my interview...” Lin tried to begin, but Kya’s stare had steel Lin couldn’t hope to bend.   
“Let’s just get one thing settled before you go and get your cast-iron knickers in a twist, Chief.”  
“I’m not playing around here, Kya!”  
“ _Neither am I!”_ Kya hissed. Lin actually looked surprised. “Yeah. I get it. Despite the setting this is all formal police business. _But_ , despite the setting, this is my fucking hospital, get it? So, pretending we’re all doing this by the book, I am telling you in my official capacity that I’m not afraid to throw you out if I think I need to, ok? If I was at work, if Korra was a stranger who was just my patient I’d tell you the exact same thing.”  
“She doesn’t look that bad to me,” Lin said, a little sceptical. Kya rolled her eyes.  
“Four hours in the tub last night. Another half before you got here and we’ve barely started. Throat and lungs are cooked to fuck, not that she’ll admit it.” She paused, setting it sink in. “Lin, I know we’ve got to fly under the radar but you really should have just sent her to hospital last night. Her shoes were melted onto her damn feet, for spirits’ sake!”  
Lin looked guiltily over her shoulder. Mako was passing Korra a water bottle, the Avatar’s hunched position revealing a large, livid burn on her upper back.   
“Duly noted.”

Lin returned to the bath, leaving Kya to start working on the promised potion.   
“Ok, kid. You’re right. Something’s going on and I don’t think it was you but I gotta hear it from you because I’m already breaking about a hundred laws for you and I would like some minor cover for my ass should this blow up in my face. So if you just try roll with it I’ll try be less of an asshole. Sound fair?”  
Korra nodded.

Mako produced a slightly crumpled schematic of the factory and Korra guided them through her movements as best she could. Her recollections were a little hazy but that was to be expected. She could point, albeit roughly, to the places she’d found workers and the way she’d taken them out. They had to pause for her to re-wet her throat as her voice cracked.   
“Story checks out, Chief,” Mako said, comparing his two notebooks.   
“Course it does,” Korra said grumpily. “Now. What...” She paused, looking pained. It took her a moment to start again. “What the hell is it you had to make sure I didn’t do?”  
The two cops exchanged a glance. Mako ran a hand through his hair.   
“In the factory. There, uh, there was a body. We found it this morning.”  
Korra sagged back against the bath, staring up at Mako and Lin with horror in those innocent baby-blues.  
“I...I left someone?”

“We don’t know that,” Mako began in what he thought was a placating tone. He’d never been good at placating, and Korra was even worse at being placated.  
“But you _think_...”  
“We don’t think anything at this point.” Lin cut in. It wasn’t clear if Korra had even heard her.   
“I could have...I should have...Where? Where were they?” Korra’s voice was cracking badly, her jaw clenching as she tried to fight back the cough in her throat.  
“Korra...”  
“ _Where were they?!”_ She snapped. Mako didn’t even look to Lin. He just pointed. Korra’s heart sank.  
“I was right there! I was...” Her reddening face contorted, fists clenching on the rim of the tub as she tried to suppress another choking cough. “I...I...”  
“Really need to stop talking.” Kya crossed back to the tubside, kneeling down. She glanced up at the two police officers as she tried to ease Korra’s breathing back into a more normal rhythm. Lin Beifong did not do contrite. She gave it her best shot all the same.  
“This is the part you throw us out, isn’t it?”  
Kya didn’t even have to nod.

 

“Well that was completely pointless,” Mako announced, tucking his notebook back into his jacket pocket. Lin gave him a look. It was an art form to decode the meaning of her looks as so many of them were just different varieties of irritation but Mako had got to know most of them through constant exposure. This particular look screamed ‘Just when I think you’re beginning to get the hang of this you cock it up’. Mako wished it wasn’t quite so familiar. “It wasn’t?”  
“No, it wasn’t.”  
Mako knew from that tone he had until the ferry to work out exactly why not.

 

Opal gritted her teeth and wondered if airbender oaths of non-aggression included throwing a seven hundred page hardback at the moron who thought the library was the perfect place for an extended phone call about aspects of his personal life Opal really didn’t want to know about. Self defence was allowed, surely defending her sanity was included in that? She glanced over to Asami who seemed equally fed up. The raven haired woman bent down, rummaging in her satchel, and pulled put what looked like a small remote. It only had one switch and one dial. She looked speculatively at the loud man across the room and adjusted the dial accordingly. There was a look of quiet triumph on her face as she flipped the switch. It didn’t seem like anything happened. The student continued his conversation, though why he was bothering with a phone was beyond Opal; at that volume her mother could probably hear him in Zaofu, _“And she was like, all over me man! All over...bro, you there?”_  
Asami’s smile grew. The man lowered his phone from his ear, staring at the device. “Huh?”  
“Signal’s pretty patchy in here,” Asami said in a noncommittal voice, not looking up from her laptop. “Maybe you should try outside?”  
“I...uh, yeah.” The man said uncertainly, lumbering out. Opal turned questioningly to Asami who just shrugged innocently.  
“Me? Build a portable mobile phone jammer? Perish the thought.”

The high-five was the only noise to break the blessed silence that had fallen.

 

Korra was still in pyjamas when Opal found her, sprawled inelegantly on her bed with her laptop. She still looked like hell, not that Opal would have told her that to her face, but less hellish than she had the night before or even that morning. _In fact, going by the grin on her face..._ Opal scanned around the room and spotted the teacup sat in the chaos that was Korra’s desk. _Ah._  
“Kya’s special blend?” Opal asked, picking her way across the somewhat cluttered floor and dropping onto the bed beside Korra. “Got any spare?”  
“Sure. All you gotta do is get yourself barbequed first,” Korra replied, putting her laptop to one side. Her throat sounded better too. Not good, but better. “I miss anything important?”  
“Hmm...” Opal paused in mock thought. “Two boring as hell lectures. Oh, and Asami thinks you’re a superhero.”  
“Oh yeah?” Korra replied, in a tone that was probably supposed to be casual. Opal hid her smirk.   
“Yeah. Although she also thinks you’re a hench dude in a cape, so there’s that.”  
Korra scowled.   
“Also she was wondering if you wanted to meet up once you’ve got over your ‘migraine’.” Opal made air quotes round the word. “Apparently she had a _great_ time last time. Do I even want to know what you guys did in my kitchen?”  
“What? No!” Korra spluttered. “We didn’t...we just...she was cold and I...” Korra caught Opal’s grin. “Oh you little shit!”  
“You like her!”  
“Oh come on, I hardly know her!”  
“And? You like her!”  
“She’s...nice.” Korra said lamely. Opal rolled her eyes.   
“Yeah, Kor. She’s really nice.”

“You know something?” Korra said some time later, apropos of nothing. Opal paused the video. “I left someone. Last night. They burned to death, and I must have walked right past them.”  
Opal didn’t reply at once. She just shuffled a little closer.   
“Without you nineteen people would have died.” She said gently, putting a reassuring hand on Korra’s knee. “For all you know that guy could have been dead before you even got there. It’s not your fault, Kor. Even you can’t save everyone.”  
Korra rested her head against Opal’s skinny shoulder.   
“I think I needed to hear that.” Korra admitted in a small voice. “Thanks, Ope.”  
“Anytime, idiot.” Opal moved her hand to put an arm round Korra’s shoulders instead. “Now can I go back to teasing you about your crush?”  
“...I hate you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor old Korra. Poor old Mako. Poor old Bolin, not even getting in the chapter. 
> 
> Sorry about the delay, I had a bit of trouble with this chapter. Hope it's not too much of a let-down! Let me know how you feel, either in the comments or at http://spudking.tumblr.com/


	8. Threats and Counter Threats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The (hopefully) long awaited next chapter of Things That Should Not Be! Drama! Plot! Flirting! Bloody Knuckles! Bad Language!
> 
> Bolin's past is causing problems for his present and all is not well on Air Temple Island.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry about the delay!

Korra hurled the ball overarm, adding a little airbending to it to actually give Naga a challenge. The great white beast hurtled after it. It didn’t hurt to throw anymore; Kya had done her work well. She had a lecture in the afternoon she was actually going to attend. The burned eyebrow was barely even noticeable, and could be brushed off as a prank by Meelo. He had previous on that score, not that he’d make that mistake twice. An angry Avatar is a formidable foe, even for a self-proclaimed master fartbender.

Korra jolted as Naga’s cold nose pressed against her shoulder. She took the ball, tossing it from hand to hand before throwing it even further than before, Naga chasing happily.   
“You need a distraction.” Opal announced, dropping onto the step beside her.   
“You can throw a ball for me to chase?” Korra asked. Opal grinned. It made Korra more than a little nervous.  
“Oh, something like that.”

 

It really wasn’t Korra’s fault, Asami would later insist. Repeatedly. Asami shouldn’t have surprised Korra like that. ‘Like that’ being an unexpected hug from behind that had somehow been misinterpreted as an attack, resulting in Korra throwing Asami bodily over her shoulder. Thankfully there was no permanent damage to Asami or her possessions. Korra’s pride was completely unsalvageable however.   
“You should see what happens if you push her in the pool,” Opal snickered as Korra debated the merits of revealing earth bending just so she could make the ground swallow her whole. She decided against it. Just.

It might have been better if she had. Opal hid her face behind her laptop as Korra got into what might have been politely called a heated debate with the seminar leader who had made the near-fatal error of referring to the “pacification of the South”. Asami tried to attract Opal’s attention but it was pointless. All other eyes were on the increasingly loud exchange between Korra and the lecturer, historian’s names and book titles being dropped like ten-tonne weights.   
“WERE YOU _THERE_?!” the man all but screamed, on his feet and leaning across the desk towards Korra. She met his mad-eyed glare with practised calm that belied the tightness in her jaw.   
“Were you?”

Things settled into an uneasy truce after that. Korra stayed silent, avoiding eye contact.

Korra was still fuming in the bar later. Bolin seemed to read the mood because he arrived with a drink in each hand, setting one down beside Korra’s near empty glass.   
“Let’s do something really, really stupid tonight,” Opal suggested. “Like, um...”  
“I’m kinda broke,” Bolin admitted. “And I’m not just taking money off you again. Still haven’t paid you back for that laptop.”  
“I keep telling you, you don’t...”  
“I like to pay my debts,” Bolin said flatly. Opal held up her hands, conceding defeat.   
“Put it on the bottom of the pile, ok Bo? Tuition comes first.”  
“you know...” Asami said thoughtfully, “My dad threw a big party at the house the other week. We’ve got plenty of drink going spare.”  
“Free beer _is_ my favourite kind,” Bolin grinned. “Waddaya say, Ope? Kor?”  
“I’m in. Korra?”  
Korra dragged herself back to the present, necking the last of her first drink.  
“When am I not?”

They didn’t hurry. Opal walked with Asami, Bolin and Korra having a quiet conversation a few yards behind.   
“Is she ok?” Asami asked awkwardly. “I don’t want to force her out if she’d rather just go home or something.”  
“Trust me, Asami. The last thing Korra needs right now is to go sit alone at home and stew. She’ll have cooled off before we reach yours, don’t worry.”  
“I’m not worried about her bringing the mood down.” Asami hastily clarified. Opal smiled.  
“I know. It’s a shame, you know? That it took us this long to actually hang out?”  
“We’ll just have to make up for lost time then, won’t we?”

They made the long, long walk up from the front gate to Asami’s place, liberated the cellar of an assortment of drinks that Asami assured them her father wouldn’t miss and set themselves up in what was apparently Asami’s space. It was big but still cosy, with enough big squashy sofas for them all to have one. They coupled up instead, setting out drinks and snacks on the coffee table.   
“My dad decided I needed my own place to have friends over,” Asami explained. “Away from wherever he was working, or relaxing, or entertaining clients.   
“It’s great,” Korra said honestly, looking around. The only thing that stopped it being the perfect party venue would have been the sheer niceness of the place. “How come we’ve never been here before?” She added jokingly. Asami looked a little embarrassed.  
“With work and everything...” She began awkwardly, and Korra winced. Bolin mimed putting a foot in his mouth.

Asami insisted on ordering takeaway, and was even more insistent on paying. When the doorbell rang distantly Asami got up.   
“I’ll be right back. Tyr not to burn the place down until I get back, ok?”  
“Sure. Um...” korra jiggled one foot. “Sorry, but Bo is taking forever. Is there another bathroom round here?”  
“No.” Asami said, deadpan. “I live in fifty thousand square foot mansion, but there’s only one toilet.” She took pity on Korra. “Down the hall, turn left, second right.”  
“Cheers.”  
Korra dashed off.

 _Down the hall, turn left, on the right..._ Korra turned the door handle. The room certainly wasn’t a bathroom. It looked like a study, going on the well organised desk against one wall. One wall was taken up with newspaper clippings, centred around a front page. “ _Sato Tragedy”_ read the headline. The other wall had a map, bits of string linking it to articles. Something stirred as Korra studied it, but her bladder was giving her no time to stay and work out exactly what was so familiar. _Second right, genius_ , she remembered, shutting the door behind her.

When she emerged Asami was calling that the pizza was on the table and that she better hurry up before Bolin ate it all. It was a very real threat.

 

Korra was feeling extremely content on the journey back. They’d made plans for dinner later in the week, Opal overriding Bolin’s quiet objections by reminding him that she owed him the next date, and that if he was ok with it they could consider the dinner the date. Or at least the start of it. Bolin was only too happy to accept. Korra was almost certain Asami had given her a look when the couple had made a joke about a double date. No, not a look. A Look. Capitalised. A Look that was raising Korra’s hopes more than a little.

It was a shame the happiness didn’t last more than five minutes onto the Island.

Meelo collided with Korra, air scooter dissipating.   
“Korra! You’re in trouble!” He warned her.   
“Oh yeah?” Korra played along, setting him back on his feet.   
“Uh huh.” He nodded. “Dad’s on one of those super-secret calls, and aren’t you supposed to be too?”  
Korra’s stomach sank. She looked to Opal who just shrugged helplessly. Korra took off for Tenzin’s study at top speed.

Korra all but knocked the door off its hinges. Tenzin looked up sharply, poised to scold, and then saw her face.   
“Who issued the summons?” She seethed, noting that the conversation had apparently just finished, the screen showing only the White Lotus image. “Who called it?”   
“Grand Lotus Xai Bau.” Tenzin told her. “He informed us that you had replied that you were overburdened with school work and could not attend.”  
“Let me guess.” Korra scowled, dropping into the spare chair. “He then suggested that, given Republic City life was interfering with my ability to function as the Avatar, I should be pulled from uni? Maybe even sent back to the South?”  
Tenzin’s silence was answer enough. Korra’s scowl deepened.  
“Tenzin. This can’t be allowed to keep happening. How am I supposed to deal with this new Equalist threat if I’m being hamstrung by the people who are supposed to protect me? Xai Bau’s got enough disciples to make life difficult for me, if he wanted. The last thing we need right now is infighting.”  
“I will address the, uh, non-order members at the earliest convenience.” Tenzin assured her. “We will discuss what is to be down about a possible rouge faction within the White Lotus. With you,” He added hurriedly. “We will, together, come up with a plan of action.”

 

Korra checked her shirt in the wing mirror of a Satomobile, to the amusement of the driver. She’d picked one of her smarter ones, not that she owned much formalwear. It accentuated her arms and bust quite nicely.

It was a relief to be off the island. The White Lotus were annoying enough when she wasn’t sizing them all up as potential thorns in her side. What she needed was a night completely divorced from them, and Avatar duties, and bending in general.

She found Asami at the restaurant bar. She patted the stool beside her invitingly and called to the bartender.  
“Sorry, would you please make that two?”

The drink was set in of her. Korra picked up the tumbler questioningly, took a sniff and found all her answers.  
“You like?” Asami smiled.  
“It smells like heaven.” Korra said honestly.  
“For the price it bloody well should.” Asami laughed. “That whisky is older than us both.”  
“And what if I hadn’t liked whisky?”  
“Well then.” Asami pursed her lips in mock thought. “I’d have drank both and ordered you something more to your taste. But I think I have a pretty good read on you by now. Parts of you, at least,” Asami amended.   
“You do seem to know exactly what I like,” Korra admitted, taking a sip. It tasted even better than it smelled. “Spirits. Well, spirit at least. Geddit?”   
Asami rolled her eyes at the pun.

“You know, you’re ruining me for other people, Sato. Pizza and fancy whisky? People are going to struggle to measure up to your lofty standards.”  
“That _would_ be a shame.” Asami said regretfully. “Though I’ve never understood why people, once they’ve found their yardstick, feel the need to keep looking.”   
_Is...is she actually flirting with me right now? Or is this just one of those things? Like, girls’ school things? Where they’re all just waaaay too comfortable around girls and it messes up the signals?_

“I like your shirt.” Asami said, not helping Korra’s internal debate at all. “It looks good on you.”  
Korra swallowed the reply of ‘ _you should see how it looks on your floor’_ just in time _._  
“Thanks. You look...snazzy.” She finished lamely. Asami raised one elegant eyebrow and Korra blushed. “I mean...”  
“I think I know what you meant. And thank you.” Asami rested her chin on her hand. “The others are taking their time, aren’t they?”  
Korra’s heart sank. If Asami was already counting down to the other two’s arrival it didn’t bode well at all.   
“Bolin is generally late. Opal will probably be here any minute.”  
“Shame. I was rather enjoying having you all to myself.” Asami smiled. And Korra did her best not to punch the air.   
“Well we’ll just have to make the most of the...”  
“Korra?”  
_Dammit, Opal..._  
Korra swivelled on her stool. And promptly jumped to her feet.  
“Opal?”

Opal was swaying on her feet, looking pale and nauseous, with a vicious-looking black eye. Her knuckles were scuffed, her clothes ripped in places. Korra was at her side in an instant, putting a steadying arm around her.   
“Hey, hey what happened? Who did this?”  
“I...whoa...” Opal clung onto Korra a bit more tightly. “My head...”  
Asami was at Korra’s elbow.   
“Should we call an ambulance?”  
“Let’s get her sat down,” Korra said firmly, looking around. “Somewhere quiet, without all these gawkers.” She added loudly. Some of the other customers looked embarrassed. Some were still enjoying the show.  
The bartender cleared his throat.  
“You can use the breakroom. Here,” He passed over a bag of ice. Korra was too preoccupied to thank him as she helped Opal up. Asami did it for her.

“Who was it, Opal?” Korra all but growled as she settled Opal in a beat-up armchair, holding a sphere of glowing water to her injury.  
“Triple Threats.” Opal said. “I got the first four, but the fifth came out of nowhere.”  
“I thought it was settled with the threats already?”   
“Apparently not. Whatever Lin’s looking into, they’re scared Kor. And a scared gang is like a corned animal. They want a fly on the police department wall. They want...”  
“They want Mako back.” Korra finished.

“They’re not getting away with this.” Korra promised. She could hear Asami footsteps on the stairs and turned the water back to ice, pressing the bag against Opal’s bruised eye. “Hold that there.” She instructed, passing over control of it.”  
“Korra, don’t,” Opal objected. She tried to stand but she was still feeling dizzy.  
“We had a deal.” Korra said firmly.   
“If you’re going...”  
“Don’t even try and say you’re coming too.” Korra’s tone brooked no argument. “You’ve got a concussion, Opal. You need to either go to a hospital or go see Kya, not get in a fight. Second Impact Syndrome, remember? If you get another hit to the head it could be really, _really_ bad. Kya or hospital. Your choice.”  
“Korra...”  
“Hospital then.”

Korra brushed past Asami on the stairs, to the taller girl’s surprise.  
“Korra?”  
She didn’t even look back.

Rage guided her footsteps, singing in her veins. Those bastards. Those utter, utter bastards. They’d had a _deal_. It was _over_. And this time she was going to make sure they held up their side of it.

Bolin sprinted past the bouncer, the barman and right up to the break room.  
“Opal! Opal, are you ok?”  
“I’m fine, Bo,” Opal said, despite the obvious. “I’ll be fine,” She corrected herself. “Just some bumps and bruises. But you’ve got to go, ok?”  
“What? Why? Is this because I...”  
“Because Korra took off for the Ostrich Horse and Water.” Opal told him. At the name of the pub his face fell. “No, Bo, don’t. This isn’t on you. This is on them, ok? But please, babe, go. Before someone gets killed.”

“What’s the Ostrich...”  
“Triple Threat HQ,” Opal supplied, adjusting the rapidly melting icepack. Asami went pale. “They’re who did this. Sending a message to Bolin.”  
“What could Bolin possibly...”  
“Bo told you he was a street kid?” Opal reminded her. “Well, there was an in-between stage. Between that and where he is now. You see, one day a very nice man gave him and his brother a dry, warm place to sleep, and a hot meal. And all they had to do was stand on the corner and whistle if they saw someone coming. And then it was food, a bed and clothes, for two nights work. And so on.”  
“They got mixed up with the Triple Threats?” Asami asked, her voice growing cold. Opal glared.  
“Don’t. Don’t you dare judge them for that. When the Threats took them in they didn’t even have shoes on their feet and winter was coming. They would have died. They did what they had to, and they never hurt anyone. They were lookouts, ran rigged games, did the books for crying out loud!”  
Asami had the decency to look embarrassed.   
“I didn’t realise you could retire from the gang life.”  
“It’s not easy to. But one day, thanks to a polar bear dog and a fire ferret, they found a way out. And now that same way is steaming towards their HQ and out for blood so we’re not going to a hospital. We’re calling Mako, Bolin’s brother, and we’re heading over there. You can help, or you can get out of my way.”

 

“KORRA! KORRA!”   
Bolin made it across the road to the blaring of horns, finally catching up to the Avatar. He tried to get in front of her but she dodged round.  
“Don’t even try and stop...”  
“I’m not here to stop you!”  
That actually did stop her.  
“When they came after me, that’s one thing. But this? Opal?” Bolin was shaking with rage. “Who next, hmm? Jinora? Ikki, fuck, even Rohan? So no, I’m not stopping you doing anything. I’m here to end this. Once and for all.”  
“Alright. Then let’s do this.”

 

“ID.” The bouncer grunted. Korra looked him up and down. Six foot three, easily a hundred and twenty kilos.  
“You don’t know who I am?”  
“Should I?” He sneered. Korra considered it.  
“Yes.”   
She picked him up by the throat and belt and hurled him bodily through the open  door. The high speed entrance did the job of silencing the otherwise rowdy pub. Korra walked in, completely unconcerned with the eyes on her.  
“I’m looking for Shin.” She announced.  
“Try between the knee and the ankle,” The barman told her. “And get out.”  
“Now, now.” Shady Shin appeared at the bar. “That’s no way to talk to an old friend, Yanna. My usual, if you’d be so kind. And one for the lady.”

They sat on opposing sides of Shin’s table. Korra didn’t touch the drink set in front of her.   
“Shady.”  
“Glowstick.” He acknowledged. “Something the matter? You don’t usually grace us with your presence.”  
“Cut the bullshit, Shin.” Korra told him. “You set your thugs on Opal. We had a deal. I’m not a fan of people breaking deals with me.”  
“My thugs?” Shin repeated sceptically. “Are you sure?”  
“When they pass on the message that ‘Shin wants his boys back’, I’m pretty sure. She’s familiar with your crew. Now, if you’re breaking your side of the deal, I might just break mine. And you know what that would mean for all of your boys and girls.”   
Korra had expected the cold metal to be pressed to the back of her head rather earlier in the conversation.   
“You should thank me, Shady.”  
“Should I now? Oh, Viper, put it away, you’re embarrassing yourself.” Shin said crossly. He didn’t like being threatened overly much.  
“Yeah. Because now you know who it is that’s been giving orders in your name, that’s angling for the top job.”  
“You want me to waste the bitch already, boss?” Viper asked. Shady shook his head.   
“What the fuck do you mean? _I_ run the show here. Nobody else.”  
Korra shrugged. The muzzle of the gun moved across her skull.  
“if that’s so, ask for Viper’s squad. His little band. Five men, isn’t it?”

 There was a flicker of uncertainty in Shin’s eyes. Korra saw it.  
“Oh, so you did suspect.”  
“Boss, you’re not listening to this...”  
“Shut it,” Shin said, not looking up. “If I found who did it. If I made them regret it...”  
“Then maybe I walk out of here.” Korra shrugged again. “Maybe I don’t tear this place apart tonight. Hell, maybe I don’t even undo the massive favour I granted you.”  
Shin paled.  
“I gave you back your bending.” Korra hissed. “I can take it just as easily. That was the price! That was the deal! And will you fuck off with that stupid macho bullshit gun crap!” She snapped, clenching her fist. Behind her head the gun crushed in on itself like a can, Viper barely dropping it in time. Korra stood up.

“You all know who I am. What I am. You know what I can do. Come after them again, through anyone, and I will come after you with everything at my disposal.”  
“Oh, fuck you!” Viper spat. “Fuck you, fuck the Avatar, fuck your sense of superiority. Fuck it all. I don’t take orders from you. Or,” And he turned to Shin. “Your little lapdog. I am no man’s slave. I didn’t join this to be a fucking goody-goody. So fuck you, fuck your threats. You’re nothing more than a jumped-up nightlight. So crawl away like a little bitch and maybe I won’t hurt you. Like I did your little friend.”  
Korra appeared to consider this. There were two dozen gang members in here easily, doubtless more in the backrooms, all armed with bending, knives, bats, even firearms.   
“Ok then.”  
And then she hit him.

 

It had taken Asami and Opal a while to find a cab that would take them to the Ostrich Horse. When they arrived the driver fled so quickly he left tyre marks on the street. The sounds of a brawl could be heard from inside.   
“Do you think they’re ok?” Asami asked, trying to peer through the frosted windows.  
“I think...”  
Opal was interrupted by the window shattering as a man was hurled through it. He landed heavily on the cobbles and lay there groaning. “I think they’re probably...”  
The next body out was Korra. She landed elbow first on the first man and rolled smoothly to her feet. Her nose was bleeding freely and her shirt...Asami blinked. Yes, her shirt was just a little on fire. Korra patted it out nonchalantly, strolling back towards the door. She opened it, grabbed the wrist of the arm that tried to slice at her and slammed the door heavily on it until it dropped the knife. She kicked it across the pavement with a tinkle of metal. Then she pulled open the door and nutted the man behind it in the face, following with a knee to the gut. He dropped like a stone. Korra stepped over the prone from and back into the melee.  
“I think they’re probably winning.” Opal finished. Asami just stared at the maelstrom of chaos visible through the broken window.

 

The police arrived in a kalidescope of reds and blues and body armour, running in to arrest anyone still upright. Korra was dragged out by a tall man in a detective’s suit. Asami realised at once that this had to be Bolin’s brother.   
“Korra! Korra, calm the fuck down!” He was yelling, but Korra didn’t seem to be able to hear him. He was practically carrying her and she was still straining like a dog on a lead. Mako shoved her against the wall a little roughly and she finally seemed to realise where she was. “It’s over!”  
“For now, maybe.”   
Korra’s knuckles were a raw mess and her unchecked nosebleed hadn’t stopped yet. Bolin was in a similar state. He and Opal now had his-and-hers matching black eyes.   
“What the actual fuck?” barked a voice. Asami tried to shrink into the shadows as Chief Beifong stepped out of her car.

Shin stepped forward.   
“A bit of rough and tumble got out of control. No harm done.”  
The Chief stared at him. A bit more of the shattered window came loose, dropping onto the pavement. “Redecorating. That window made everything very gloomy inside.”  
“Uh huh.” Lin clearly did not believe a word of it. She walked up and down the Triad line, stopping at Korra. She examined one bloodied hand. “And the tooth lodged in here?”  
“Slipped.” Korra lied. She dug it out. Asami gagged. “Whose was this? Oh, Viper. If I may?” She asked Mako. He nodded uncertainly. Korra approached the badly beaten gang member. “Put it in milk.” She advised, holding out the tooth. “A good dentist should be able to glue it right back on.”  
“Fuck you, glowstick.” Viper spat a glob of bloody saliva in Korra’s face. Shin sighed. And gave the slightest of nods.  
“You really shouldn’t have done that.” Korra said pleasantly. Viper looked around, as if to say ‘What can you do now?’. Enough, as it turned out. “I’d be careful with this one,” She warned the officer holding Viper. “He’s got an illegal handgun in an ankle holster.” Viper went white. “Oh, and he dropped another in the bar. What’s the minimum sentence on that? Six years?” She gave Viper a smile, and returned to her place.

The fighters were released without charge. Nobody was saying anything, leaving the cops with little option. Asami would have thought that was the end of it, until Chief Beifong pulled Korra to one side with a fistful of her shirt.

“What the hell are you playing at?” Lin growled. “Trying to get yourself killed?”  
“I had to.”  
“The hell you did!”  
“Take a look at your niece, Lin. Then tell me what I did or didn’t have to do.”  
“If you dragged her into this mess...”  
“They went after her.” Korra told her, and for all Lin’s gruffness, for all her years on the force, she saw the flicker of fear. “Opal?”  
Opal came over reluctantly, Asami at her side. Lin saw the bruises at once. She let go of Korra.  
“I did what I had to.” Korra repeated, and she didn’t sound defiant this time. She sounded tired. “They want Mako back. Whatever line of investigation you’re on, they’re scared.”  
“You’re telling me I put Opal in the crosshairs?”  
“No. I’m telling you that Triads are bastards. And that family looks out for each other.”  
Lin scowled.   
“Mako!” She called. The man appeared at her side in a flash. “Run your brother and his idiot friends to A&E, then get back to the station.”  
“Yes, Chief.”

There was a fight over who got the front seat. Opal won by finally being overcome by nausea from her concussion and throwing up onto the street. She sat in the front with a bucket, a present from Shady Shin, on her lap.  
 “Sorry about dinner, Asami,” She managed.

Asami opted to wait for them to be seen to. Opal was whisked away first.   
“If you want to leave...” Korra said, speaking for the first time in over an hour. “I mean, I get it. If we scared you.”  
“Scared?” Asami repeated incredulously. “Korra I...” she looked down at Korra’s torn knuckles. “It was scary.” She admitted. “But I’m not scared. Not of you. Not of being around you. I like being around you. I less like watching from the sidelines as you fight fully grown men, but I like you guys.”  
Korra tried to smile but it pulled uncomfortably at her split lip.   
“We like you too.”

Korra’s name was called for x-ray. Asami helped her up.  
“If there are any bars still open after we’re done here I’m pretty sure I owe you a drink.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a good thing they're in a hospital because if Korra realises she's basically asked Asami out she's probably going to faint.  
> Worth the wait? Shouldn't have bothered to knock the dust off this one? Let me know! I'm spudking on tumblr too!


	9. Some Maintenance Required

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra's getting grouchy again, and she might just take Kya's advice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 27 days without internet have now ended so I'm celebrating with a mass update. Hope you enjoy!

“I fucked up.”     
“No, you didn’t.”Mako passed Korra a cup of tea, leaning on the pagoda rail. Korra gave him a look. “Well...it wasn’t exactly an unqualified and total success,” He acknowledged. “But Viper is facing illegal weapons charges so he’s off the streets for now and Shin’s cracking down on his boys. Mission accomplished.”  
“Still. I shouldn’t have brought Asami into it. Shouldn’t have fucking charged in like that. If she’d seen...”  
“She didn’t.”  
Korra sighed.   
“Lin wants me to sever ties.” She said, in a forced, flat voice. Mako studied her.   
“Did she say why?”  
Korra shrugged.  
“She’s a distraction, a civilian, an unknown variable, Lin’s jealous of her hair. Pick one.”  
“Right.”  
There was something in Mako’s tone that had Korra raising an eyebrow but he didn’t elaborate.   
“What does Kya think?”  
Korra snorted.  
“We all know what Kya thinks.”

“Much as I’ve missed hanging out with you, I did want to pick your brains on a professional matter.” Korra said, warming her tea between her hands until it was steaming again.   
“The Lotus?” Mako guessed, and Korra nodded. “Lin mentioned it. I’ll keep my eyes and ears open.” He huffed. “Fucking _fantastic_ time for them to be squabbling like five year olds fighting over a toy.”  
“My thoughts exactly.” Korra sighed, and added, “Any whispers reached your ears about the _actual_ enemy?”   
Mako just shook his head. He’d tapped all of his sources, snouts, informants and gossip merchants. If there were Equalists in the city then they were keeping a low profile. Korra had expected as much. The map they had found in Ba Sing Se had only been of the city and surrounding area. It gave no hint as to further bases. It was possible that Ba Sing Se had been a one off, that they’d managed to nip the threat in the bud. Except, as Korra was only too aware, they hadn’t. They hadn’t done anything. The base had been empty when they arrived. There had been no further activity there, and no trace of the missing benders they had taken. There had to be at least one more location. Korra’s knuckles were itching, and it wasn’t just from the healing cuts.   
“I almost miss the old Equalists.” She confessed. “Sure, we were outnumbered. And hunted like rats. But at least you knew where and who the enemy was.”

 

Korra did in fact know where and who the enemy was. He was the smug git running their seminars, the equalist-sympathising prick.   


Her brain was still screaming when classes finished. She couldn’t remember what excuse she made to head off solo. It didn’t matter. She didn’t know where she was going and that didn’t matter either. She just went.

 

She couldn’t remember when she started to run. It just happened and once it started she didn’t want to stop, swerving between slow moving pedestrians and cars, arms pumping, heart pounding. She barrelled down an alley and barely registered the two lurkers. One stepped forward, the other held him back and gave a most emphatic shake of the head. Korra was laughing when she exited, breaking into a full sprint down the street. Running was good. With her heart hammering against her chest she knew she was alive.

There was a screech of brakes and the car mounted the pavement in front of her. She barely had time to clock Asami in the convertible’s driving seat, yelling,  
“Get in!”  
Korra vaulted in and they took off to a blaring of horns. Asami twisted in her seat.  
“Are they still following?”  
“Are who?” Korra asked, bewildered and a little out of breath.   
“Are...you were running from someone?”  
“Uh...” Korra bit her lip but she couldn’t hold back her laughter. “Oh man. Um. No.”  
Asami hit the brakes so hard Korra’s head nearly hit the dashboard.   
“You weren’t?” She asked, going very red. “But...running?”  
“I like running,” Korra said meekly. Asami groaned and covered her still reddening face with her hands.   
“I thought the triad was after you or something!” Asami moaned into her hands. “Oh spirits, kill me now.”  
Korra failed to choke back another wave of giggles.   
“No. Just stretching my legs. Thanks for the uh, totally unneeded rescue?”  
“You’re welcome.” Asami was still the colour of a tomato.

“So. I like the car.” Korra said, to break the silence.   
“Thanks. I built her. It.” Asami corrected too late. Korra was mercifully distracted.  
“Built?” She repeated, impressed. “As in a kit car? Or...”  
“From the axles up.” Asami supplied. “My own design. I’m more than a little smug about it.”  
“As you should be.”  
There was another lull in the conversation. This time Asami was the one to speak.   
“I was just heading home. I was just doing a road test, rebuilt part of the engine. I don’t suppose, I mean, if you’re busy running from your inner demons or I’ve made entirely too much of a tit out of myself for you to even look at without cracking up or whatever I totally...”  
Korra put her seatbelt on. Asami smiled, and pulled back out into the traffic.

 

Korra might not drive but she knew what a garage was. Or at least what a normal person would consider a garage. When Asami said garage she meant half industrial garage and half car showroom. Asami carefully drove the convertible onto a lift, hopping out. Korra followed suit. She could see Asami’s lower half now, see the overalls knotted at her waist. She’d thought Asami had just been wearing a scruffy-for-her, so far smarter than half of Korra’s wardrobe, tank top. Asami tied back her hair.   
“I just need to have a quick look under, if that’s ok?”  
“Knock yourself out. Except please don’t,” Korra added quickly. “Seen enough of the hospital recently.”  
“Urgh, you and me both,” Asami grumbled, raising the car on the lift. “Still, the last of the guys is being discharged tomorrow. So that’s something.”  
“The guys...?”  
“Oh, the workers that got caught in the fire. One had some kind of issue with the skin grafts.” Asami pulled the overalls on fully and lay back on the creeper board, wheeling under the car. There was some clanking and grunting and Asami reappeared with a scowl. She sat up, eyeing up Korra in a far more cold and analytical way than Korra would have liked.   
“I need to borrow your muscles.”

Asami had a spare set of overalls. Unfortunately they were Asami-sized. The legs were entirely too long, the body entirely too short and narrow and Korra was pretty sure that one good flex would rip the sleeves right off. Still, she wasn’t complaining. She scooted underneath on a board beside Asami, letting her guide her to the stubborn bolt in question.

The ‘quick look’ turned into two hours of things Korra completely did not understand but was more than happy to do. It was just so _simple_. Unscrew that. Lift that. Twist that. No Equalists, no benders, no pressure, nothing to worry about but engine grease and the fact that her and Asami kept bumping hands. And that wasn’t a bad thing to worry about at all.

 

“I’m curious, Asami,” Korra said after the work was finally deemed complete. “As to what on earth you would consider to be a long look.”  
Asami shoved her, sending her rolling across the garage floor. Korra put her feet down and scooted back over.   
“Can’t get rid of me so easily, Sato.”  
“Darn,” Asami deadpanned, pulling her gloves off. “I guess I’ll have to shove harder next time.”  
Korra folded her legs on top of the board.   
“Then again, I might need those muscles again. So maybe I should keep you close to hand.”  
Korra struck a body building pose, flexing.   
“My muscles are at your command, Ms Sato!”  
Asami giggled.  
“What?” Korra said, a little self consciously.  
“Oh, it’s nothing, it’s just...” Asami wheeled a little closer. “You’ve got this little smudge of grease. Right here.” She indicated her cheek. “And you just look kind of cute.”  
“Cute?” Korra repeated, in a mock offended tone. “Cute? I’m fucking _adorable_!”  
“Then Adorable is a lucky guy.”   
Asami had to laugh as Korra spluttered. “Come on. Let’s get cleaned up, greasemonkey.”

Korra pushed herself upright, following Asami to the bathroom.   
“Sorry, the mirror here got smashed. There was a slight...pneumatic malfunction...” Asami indicated the wooden board covering a hole in the otherwise brick wall. “So uh...” Asami gestured vaguely to Korra’s face. Korra turned her cheek slightly.  
“Go for it.”

“Adorable,” Korra repeated scathingly, as Asami wiped the oil away gently. “Honestly. As if any guy would be called adorable.”  
Asami rolled her eyes. And stopped mid roll as Korra finished; “A _girl_ , maybe.”  
There was something almost defiant in Korra’s eyes. Asami had frozen, had still virtually on Korra’s cheek.

_She didn’t slap you. That’s a good start._ Korra’s thoughts were going a mile a minute. _Just wait. She can laugh it off. Or..._ Asami wet her lips.   
“I...”  
“Asami?” called a voice, and Korra could have screamed. Asami jumped backwards.  
“Yes, dad?”

Nobody should ever face the indignity of a first meeting in such spectacularly ill-fitting overalls. Especially not with one of the richest men in the world. It wasn’t extravagant, but it was evident. The cut of his suit, the shine of his shoes, the gleam of his watch. Korra felt wrong footed from the off.   


It didn’t get much better at the dinner the Satos had insisted she stay for.

 

“I’m sorry about dad,” Asami said as she drove Korra towards the docks. Korra shrugged. “He’s just a little...direct?...in his sense of humour. Comes from surrounding yourself with people who’ll laugh like their job depends on it no matter how bad the joke is because, as far as they’re concerned, it might well. I hope it didn’t, I mean, I had a great time.”  
“Same. Don’t worry. I’ve dealt with blunter than him.”  
Amon, for instance, had never beaten around the bush. Unless you counted the brawl in the botanical gardens that resulted in Korra being quite literally beaten around a large shrub.  
“I’m glad. About the good time!” Asami clarified hastily. She parked the car.  
“Well, you know what they say. For a good time, call Asami Sato,” Korra joked. They sat there for a moment. Asami looked set to speak but then the call went up.  
“Last ferry! Board now or not at all!”  
“Sounds like your ride is here.” Asami said, instead of whatever she’d been about to say. Korra fought the desire to punch Asami’s beautifully finished dashboard.   
“See you soon?”  
“You bet.”  
Korra hopped out, eschewing the door. She’d just made it onto the ferry when she heard Asami shout;  
“Have fun with Adorable!”  
Korra shook her head and stuck a middle finger up in response.

 

“You’re home late.”  
Tenzin was sat at the kitchen table when Korra came in, reading a newspaper. “Pema saved you some supper. I assume you haven’t eaten as you would certainly have called ahead if you’d known you were going to be back late,” He added pointedly. “It’s in the fridge.”  
Korra retrieved it, sending a pulse of warmth through it. She had eaten, but that had never stopped her yet.  
“With Asami?” Tenzin asked, and Korra knew it wasn’t a question.  
“That a crime now?”  
“No,” Tenzin put down his paper. “Korra...”  
Korra knew that tone. She was not a fan of that tone.  
“I’m not spilling trade secrets, Tenzin. She’s a friend. We don’t talk benders. We don’t talk history. We just...have fun.”  
“Hiroshi Sato was an Equalist.” Tenzin said bluntly. Korra put down her cutlery.  
“Equalist, or equalist?” Korra asked calmly. “Big E or small? Because signing up to the party was pretty much mandatory if you wanted to work in the old days, you know that.”  
“He built weaponry for them.”  
“And you served on Amon and Tarrlock’s council!”  
Tenzin bristled.  
“That was completely different!”  
“And how do you know that?” Korra demanded. “How do you _know_ that? Or is that just what you have to tell yourself?”  
Tenzin took a breath.   
“I’m concerned, Korra. The world needs you. Any...distractions...could have major consequences.”

Korra had to laugh. Otherwise she might have hit him.  
“Oh for the love of...Seriously? _Seriously_?” The humour vanished from her voice. “You’re going to sit there and tell me that I should leave my heart out of the equation, be all cold logic, when you’re Aang’s kid?”  
It was a low blow and Korra knew it. She saw the look on Tenzin’s face and pressed on. “Did they ever tell you about the Guru, or did they leave that out? You know, when your father jeopardised the fate of the world and lost his connection to Ravaa because he had a little kid’s crush on Katara?”  
“That was...” Tenzin began hotly.  
“Different?” Korra guessed.  “Yeah. For one, I’m an adult. And the world isn’t in imminent danger of being burned into submission by an all-powerful army. _And_ I’m not giving anything up. I’m having a _friend_. Something you lot kept me from having for the first sixteen years of my life, so excuse me if I don’t fancy cutting her out of my life!” Korra stood and left. Tenzin didn’t follow. He just sat at the table with the gently steaming rice.

 

Korra was working up a really good fume when there was a knock at the door. She wrenched it open, causing Ikki to jump back in alarm.   
“um...” She looked a little scared. Korra sighed.   
“Sorry, Ikki. Long day.”  
“I heard. In the kitchen. But that’s not why I’m here. Jinora’s all...ucky, and she said not to bother you,” she took a breath, “cosyou’reallstressedatthemomentandstuffbutshelooksreally _icky_ andIthoughtmaybeyoucoulddoyourthingandmakeherfeelbetter?”   
Korra had no trouble understanding Ikki’s machine-gun delivery these days. “Kya’s at work,” Ikki added, after a moment. “Otherwise I’d have got her, but she’s not here so...”  
“I got it.” Korra cut her off. Ikki still looked a little nervous. Korra ruffled her hair. “Don’t worry, you did the right thing.”

 

There was a gentle knock on the door. Jinora just groaned. The door opened.   
“And I thought Ikki was exaggerating when she said you looked ‘icky’.” Korra said matter-of-factly from the doorway.  
“I told her not to bother you.” Jinora tried to sound disappointed rather than relieved.   
“She said that too. And yet here I am.”  
“You don’t have to, I know you’re...I’ve got a hot water bottle...” She didn’t sound like she believed her own mouth and Korra certainly wasn’t swayed.  
“I can be replaced by a hot water bottle? Way to make a girl feel special.”   
Jinora smiled despite herself.  
“Jinora, I’m here if you want.”  
“...please?”  
Korra crossed over to the bed, pulling a chair up. Jinora looked pale, nauseous and miserable. The aforementioned hot water bottle was clutched tight to her abdomen. Korra took it gently from her, opening it and drawing out the water in a glowing sphere, warming it to the perfect temperature. Jinora uncurled from her foetal position gratefully and let Korra get to work.

“I think this is why people hate waterbenders,” Jinora said after a few minutes, as Korra’s careful pulses of water across her stomach began to finally ease the vicious cramping. “Getting out of stuff like this.”  
“It’s definitely a factor.” Korra agreed, glancing up from her work. She was pleased to see Jinora looked more comfortable already, eyes closed rather than screwed up. “You know that I’m never going to not help you with this royal monthly bullshit, right? Even if me and your dad aren’t on speaking terms I’m not going to take it out on you.”  
“I didn’t want to bother you.”  
“I’d be much more bothered knowing you were having a shitty time of it,” Korra told her firmly. “I’d far rather you interrupt my sulking than lay here in pain.”

Korra kept working even after Jinora fell asleep at last.

 

Tenzin was in a foul mood the next morning. He had been merely a little grouchy until, while attempting to be the bigger person, he had gone to Korra’s room to try and mend bridges and found it empty. He had stormed around the island, interrogating the White Lotus sentries, and found absolutely no sign of when she’d run off. Not that that meant anything given Korra’s plethora of potential escape methods.

“She’s with that Sato girl again, I just know it!” Tenzin complained to Pema at breakfast.   
“So what if she is?” Pema replied. “She’s a kid, Tenzin. Let her be one, if only for a few hours a week.”  
“You don’t know the Satos,” Tenzin said darkly.   
“Korra’s not with Asami,” Ikki corrected them.   
“Then where is she?” Tenzin asked, trying his best to keep his frustration out of his voice. “Drinking tea with Blueberry Spicehead?”  
“No,” Ikki said, as if the idea was utterly ridiculous. “She’s with Jinora.”

Tenzin didn’t dare look at the expression on Pema’s face.

 

Tenzin opened the door a crack, spotting Jinora still fast asleep, which was a relief in itself. He opened the door. Korra was indeed there. She had slumped forward in her chair, her head resting on a mattress barely at the height of her knees, bent into a position that made Tenzin’s back hurt just to look at. A no-longer-hot hot water bottle was sat by her chairleg, unstoppered. She must have fallen asleep before she dealt with it. Tenzin found the bung and pushed it into place, putting it on Jinora’s chest of drawers. Korra muttered in her sleep, something unintelligible. Tenzin considered waking her but he decided against it. Better to let her sleep. She looked like she needed it. He removed the spare bedding from the top of the wardrobe, draping a blanket around Korra’s shoulders, not that the girl ever really felt cold this far north of her homeland. He deftly manoeuvred the pillow under Korra’s head with barely a mumble from the sleeping Avatar, bringing her spine into a slightly less eye watering shape. She looked younger in her sleep, without the weight of the world of her shoulders. Her scuffed knuckles looked almost incongruous, the split lip a mistake. Tenzin sighed. If he could have just let her be like that they could both be happy and not at each other’s throats constantly. He didn’t want to hurt her. He didn’t want her to hate him. The problem was that, much as he valued their relationship, he would much rather have Korra alive to hate him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone needs a personal waterbender healer to take care of them and their royal monthly bullshit.


	10. Hit the Brakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra's getting uneasy and Opal is shipping without due care and attention.

“You chickenshit!” Opal laughed. Korra hung her head. “Aww, is Korra all shy now? All embarrassed? You’re the motherfucking...” She scanned around the nearly empty lobby and dropped her voice just in case, “ _Avatar,_ and you can’t even kiss a girl? That’s weak. That’s really weak.”  
“Bo, back me up here?”   
Bolin shook his head.  
“Sorry Kor. I’m sticking with the ‘chickenshit’. You like her, she likes you. Quit dancing round and just do something already!”  
Korra huffed.   
“You guys suck, you know that?”  
“Oh, very much so.” Bolin replied cheerfully.

 

 _Damn Tenzin. Damn Lin. Damn Mako._ The mantra repeated inside Korra’s head as she vented her frustration on the heavy bag. Their words of warning were beginning to stick and Korra hated it. Asami was a good person, Korra knew it. _So why do I get this niggle now?_ _Why do I have doubts now?_

_What if I’m wrong?_

Korra’s hand caught the bag wrong and she swore. There was a noise of sympathy from behind her and she turned, finding Asami stood in the gym door.  
“I tried to say something but you were on a different planet,” Asami apologised, approaching. “And after you threw me for saying hi the other day I didn’t fancy my chances if I got in range.”  
Korra couldn’t really argue with that. Asami took Korra’s bad hand, pulling off the glove. The hand beneath was still in less than top condition but the raw skin hadn’t split again. For a bizarre second Korra wondered if Asami was about to kiss it better.   
“Are you even supposed to be hitting things yet?” Asami asked, taking in the old bruises and ugly scabbing. That was the problem with visible injuries; Kya couldn’t heal them away without risking raising awkward questions.    
“Short answer, no,” Korra replied. “Long answer, definitely not.”  
Asami released Korra’s hand.   
“Just had to hit something?”  
Korra shrugged, pulling off her other glove, turning to gather her stuff.

“Are you ok?” Asami asked and Korra paused. “It’s just...since that...since you came up to mine. You’ve been a bit...”  
“I’ve just got a lot on my mind, Asami.” Korra said shortly. “I haven’t meant to be ‘a bit’ anything.”  
“Anything I can help with?”  
The offer sounded completely sincere. Korra was glad Asami couldn’t see her face.   
“Sorry, but no. This is just something I have to sort out for myself.”  
Asami seemed to accept that.  
“Will sorting that out stop you coming to lunch? Only Opal’s buying, sent me to find you.”  
Korra looked at the hopeful expression and tried to formulate a more gentle but very definite refusal.   
“Of course not.” Was what her mouth said. “Give me ten to shower though, otherwise I’ll stink the place right out.”

Korra headbutted the wall of the shower cubicle.  
“Chickenshit,” she muttered to herself.

 

Opal’s grin could only be described as “shit-eating”. It didn’t fade as much as a glimmer the entire meal, even in the face of Korra’s dirty looks. It felt stupid. It felt ridiculous. She knew Asami, didn’t she? But the last time Tenzin had warned her and she’d ignored him she’d ended up having to murder her uncle and nearly doomed the world to ten thousand years of darkness. After going through something like that Korra was rather more inclined to heed his warnings, no matter how cryptic. _Why did he even have to say anything? Couldn’t I have just had this? Would that have really been so bad..._ Korra jolted back into reality, nearly dropping the cup of tea she’d been holding off the table for the last few minutes.   
“I...sorry, what?”  
Opal gave her a pointed look.  
“Asami was just saying about how she’s got some boring corporate schmoozefest coming up that her dad’s insisting on her going to.”  
“Ok?”  
If Opal’s stare got any more intense her eyes were in danger of falling out of their sockets. Korra felt something more was expected of her. “uh...that’s nice?”  
Opal put her head in her hands.

“That was the perfect opportunity!” Opal complained afterwards, when Asami had left. Korra didn’t have the energy to argue this time. Bolin nudged Opal and she finally let the matter drop with a quizzical look at the slump of Korra’s shoulders.

Bolin caught Korra by the shoulder as she made to duck away from the couple’s usually over-affectionate goodbyes.   
“Are you going to tell me?”  
“It’s just stuff, Bo.” Korra tried. Bolin didn’t look convinced.  
“You know it doesn’t have to be a potential apocalypse for me to help you, right? I mean, I know we’ve done more than our fair of that stuff, apocalypses are our speciality, but we’re still friends when the world isn’t ending.” He paused. “Also if the world _is_ in peril I’d like a heads up so I don’t have to do my essay.”  
“I know. Really. It’s just stuff.” Korra insisted. “No potential doom. No giant evil kites. Just...stuff.” Bolin still didn’t look convinced. He pulled her into a hug that Korra tried not to seem too grateful for.   
“I’m always around for stuff, ok?”

 

The announcement in the afternoon’s lectures did nothing to raise her mood. She’d known it was coming, at least in theory. It had been looming on the horizon like a storm, one more lump of ‘stuff’ to worry about, but the actual date had fallen fresh out of her mind. Stupid. Careless. Or maybe there were just too many days to remember now. The Scourging of the South. The New Dawn. Harmonic Convergence. So many days steeped in bad memories, and half of them weren’t even her memories. Sometimes reincarnation really sucked.

 

 _Maybe I should get out of the city for a while,_ Korra mused as she brushed Naga down that evening. _Go home. See mum and dad, see real snow again_. _Just...get some distance. Some perspective. Huh, listen to me. Actually thinking things through. Tenzin would be so proud. Well, he would be if he didn’t work out that I was doing it to dodge this stupid bullshit enforced trip. If I didn’t just want to get out of this whole stinking city before they start the bloody commemorations properly._

 

Korra went for a wander. Her head was too full to stay still but she’d promised she’d be at dinner that evening so a trip down to the sea cave wasn’t on the cards. The island was currently free from tourists which made things somewhat more bearable. There was nothing more annoying than some snap-happy moron clicking away when she was just trying to have a moment to herself. It wasn’t even like she dressed like a monk so she’d never quite understood why they bothered taking pictures of what was clearly just a surly student. Of course, if they’d known exactly who and what they were taking photos of she might just have understood it.

She saw the little knot of four White Lotus guards in their formal robes, the cluster breaking up as she approached. The tall woman that passed her gave her a brusque nod and hurried off to do whatever it was that they insisted on doing all day that made them think she owed them something. It wasn’t even as if she _wanted_ them buzzing about her all day like big blue flies. Or that Tenzin wanted them on the island. They drew attention even with their cover story; ‘Guardians of the World’s heritage’ her second left buttock, which was precisely what the monks as a whole and Korra in particular didn’t want. Unfortunately it was easier to bend platinum than to convince a Grand Lotus of anything that a Grand Lotus did not wish to believe. Korra was pretty sure she’d get Firelord Izumi to do the can-can on the head of the restored statue of Aang before she convinced the White Lotus to fade back into the shadows.  At least Xai Bau was off the island now. That guy had always given her the creeps, staring at her like a wolf eyes an unguarded lamb. And if she had to hear one more bloody sermon about Guru Laghima she was going to scream. She’d rather hear Tenzin drone on and on about that guy who never ate again.

It would not have been unfair to see that there was no love lost between the White Lotus and the one they allegedly protected. Sixteen years of bad blood took a long time to wash out and neither Korra nor the Lotus were prepared to put any time into the metaphorical scrubbing.

 

“Wakey wakey!” came an obnoxiously cheery voice. Korra groaned and pulled the blanket over her head on principle. It didn’t matter how glad she was to be free of the dream. “Aw, don’t be like that! It’s a lovely sunny day!”  
Korra saw the world brighten even through her closed lids as the curtains were pulled back.  She wriggled more under the covers. “That’s not going to work!” the singsong voice informed her, tugging at them. It was a wonderfully pathetic tug of war. Korra felt one arm get uncovered and flailed blindly. There was a rush of wind and a thump as the morning monster was blown into the opposite wall. Korra sat up guiltily as Opal managed to get back to her feet.  
“Well I guess that worked.” She observed, turning Korra’s desk right side up once more. There was no saving the crockery that had been on it though. “C’mon. We’re going to be late.”  
Korra flopped back onto the mattress.

They were late. The three of them pulled up to the car park, watching the minibuses load up. Three buses. Twenty four to a bus, driver included.  Seventy five people. It didn’t take a genius to do the maths, which was confirmed by Korra’s least favourite GTA. Asami waved at Korra from one of the driving seats, beckoning towards her bus, but it was already fully booked.   
“Sorry, Ope.” Korra said, not sorry at all. “Looks like you’re driving. We’ll...” Korra looked at Bolin. “I’ll pay the petrol. My fault, after all.”  
Opal waved it away.  
“Next round’s on you though.”

It was definitely better driving in Opal’s spacious and stink-free car than the minibuses. They took Bato Bridge over the lake at ten miles over the speed limit with the windows down and the volume high, catching up to the mini convoy of minibuses. The argument over seats had taken a little while to sort out, with Korra eventually being banished to the backseat for her sins, leaving Bolin in charge of the music. Opal had threatened to switch Bolin and Korra after sixty seconds for his choice of radio station. For all they were diligently pretending otherwise this should have been a sombre occasion, and so the journey should not have begun to a deafening chorus of “Itsy-Bitsy, Teenie-Weenie Yellow Polka-Dot Bikini”.

It didn’t take them long to catch up, even after they’d sorted the music out. As they passed the lead bus Opal slowed down for a moment, enough for Asami to notice them in the act of overtaking. The heiress tried to coax a little more speed out of the battered old bus but to no avail. Opal slid on past with a cheery wave and an answering honk of the horn.

 

“This is really going to suck.” Korra announced, still sat in the back seat with her legs now dangling out the open door. The other two had to agree, and it had nothing to do with the way the sky was beginning to go grey, rainclouds rolling in. They looked from the square of asphalt that made up the car park to the little monument a short way off.   
“It should be bigger,” Bolin said, and this time only Opal nodded. “Kor? You don’t think so?”  
“Shouldn’t _need_ a monument.” Korra said, a little distantly. “Shouldn’t have to stick a dirty great slab up and say ‘here’s where the massacre happened’. People shouldn’t need reminders to remember stuff like that, you know?” she shook herself. “And what do you want to bet that wanker tries to downplay it?” Pre-emptive anger was better than introspection. Or at least it felt better. “How’d we end up with the fucking _sympathiser_ taking our seminar? Hell, this isn’t even our damn seminar and he’s _still_ fucking here!”  
“Not here yet,” Opal said, in the voice of someone determined to find some kind of silver lining. It wasn’t much of one. Korra just shrugged. They could see the minibuses in the distance. “Bo...” her voice softened. “Do you want to do anything? Y’know, before everyone gets here?”  
Bolin shook his head. Opal’s gaze flickered ever so slightly to Korra, but the Avatar just shrugged and stuck her hands in her pockets. Opal had a sneaky suspicion she knew exactly what Korra was thinking and was fighting the urge to slap her for being an idiot, but Bolin was looking like an abandoned puppy and the others would be there soon. Probably best not to be seen slapping someone across the face at a memorial. People could misinterpret it. She took Bolin’s hand instead and squeezed it.

It did not escape Opal’s notice that _somehow_ Korra and Asami ended up standing beside one another. And while Korra’s hands were still firmly in her pockets there was a definite bumping of elbows that Opal definitely wasn’t reading too much into. She certainly wasn’t over analysing that sympathetic glance Asami gave a totally oblivious Korra. Opal was mentally begging for Asami to just put an arm round her when she felt Bolin jolt beside her. Korra too had stiffened. Apparently Korra’s instincts regarding the GTA were as good as ever and Opal had been too busy trying to mind-bend Asami to hear what crap he’d said this time. She looked back towards the monument a little guiltily as the silence descended and Bolin’s hand tightened round hers just a fraction. They’d never had this in Zaofu. How could they? It was the only place in the world where benders were the majority.  

Some of the group moved forward, a slow shuffle to the memorial. Most stood back in respectful silence. Bolin detached himself from Opal, taking his turn to place two small stones at the foot of the monument. He’d polished them to the point of gleaming but otherwise there was nothing particularly special about them. Just two small stones, one a dull red, one a dark green.

 

They were in no rush. The minibuses were already pulling away before Bolin turned away from the monument. Korra didn’t fight for the front this time. They sat in the silent car as it began to spit, tiny raindrops spotting across the windscreen.  
“I think I need a beer.” Bolin said at last. Nobody objected. Opal started the car.

Korra rested her head against the windowpane, not quite trying to doze off but not putting any energy into staying awake either. In truth the day had not been quite as horrible as she’d feared, even with the bile coming out of that prat’s mouth. Opal hit a bump as they neared the centre of the bridge and Korra’s head cracked painfully against the window. She sat up, rubbing her head.   
“Nice driving.”  
“Blame Raiko,” Opal said dismissively. “Not my fault the roads are shit.”  
“Whatever. Honestly, how can you ‘be the leaf’” Korra intoned, complete with hand motions, “With your lead foot and shitty reflexes?”  
“Big talk from the girl with no licence.”   
“Yeah, well...” Korra didn’t get to finish her sentence. She didn’t get to finish her sentence because ahead one of the minibuses had lurched without warning towards the crash barrier, slamming into it sixty miles an hour and ripping through, the crumpled bonnet sticking out over the drop. Opal barely managed to hit the brakes in time, veering off, nearly taking out a white van on the other side of the road. The second minibus wasn’t so fast. It hit the first head on. And the first bus went over the edge.

Korra was out of the car before it had stopped, skidding to a halt at the broken barriers. The white roof of the minibus was visible, rapidly sinking into the lake below. She looked back, seeing Bolin and Opal running towards her, saw the other drivers begin to emerge from their cars. She saw the second minibus driver, staggering out with his bloody nose. Saw the third, the GTA. Saw who wasn’t there.  
“Korra!”  
The yell came too late. She’d already dived.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was that mean? I feel that may have been mean.


	11. Resurface

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes you just have to dive in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have an early Christmas present, and my excuse for not writing anything for the anniversary.

Bolin made it to the parapet in time to see Korra hit the water, punching through like an arrow. They didn’t need to speak. They leapt, Opal finding a grip on Bolin’s arm in freefall.

Opal slowed them before they hit the water, dragging as much air down with them as she could. She clung onto Bolin as he pulled up the riverbed to meet them, then rode the spur down to the bottom. It was impossible to see through the walls of water that enclosed them, dark with filth and sludge, almost like being in a cave of shimmering walls. If Opal lost concentration for even a moment the water would crash down on them and they’d be in no position to help at all.

There was no sign of Korra in that filthy water, no telltale flash of the white minibus. Bolin squared his shoulders and hips, taking as firm a stance as he could on the squelching muck and drew down with all his might. The silt settled to the river bed and they could see the van through the gloom, only a short distance away, lying on its side. The back doors had been torn open, indistinct figures streaming towards the surface. Some were dragging others behind them.

“How long can you hold this?” Bolin asked and Opal shrugged, sweat already forming on her forehead.   
“Not long. It’s like lifting a boulder in reverse, keeping it down here.”  
“No time to waste then.” Bolin let the muck rise, once again obscuring his vision. He didn’t need it. He could feel the minibus now, settled into the ooze. He pushed them towards it, speeding on a conveyor belt of mud and old junk. They damn near collided with it, Bolin once again clearing the water, just enough for them to see what they were doing. Korra broke through into their bubble and tumbled onto their private bit of dry land, soaking wet and gasping for air.   
“Four more,” she gasped. “Four more. Take, up, resus...”   
And then she was gone, diving back into the river that surrounded them.

Breaking back into the river meant fighting buoyancy that threatened to throw her upward, a surreal feeling that she would have enjoyed at any other time. As it was time was very much of the essence. She swam back inside the bus, finding the first unconscious body floating against what had become the ceiling. She hooked an arm and dragged him into the bubble. It was diminishing rapidly, streaming off in ten thousand silver plumes. Opal’s arm was shaking when the second arrived. The water was lapping around their knees now as the pocket floated away, their classmates floating in the little oasis of air. Opal was hanging onto Bolin as an anchor as their feet tried to float, pushed around by the current running beneath them. Korra’s head barely broke through with the third, snatching a few desperate gulps of air.   
“Go!”  
“But...”  
“GO!”  
There was no use arguing. The water was inching up their thighs. Bolin took a firm grip on two of the bodies, Opal grabbing the third, taking a firmer grip on Bolin’s belt. He kicked out and the earth kicked back, the spur pushing them from air to water and back up to the surface in a rush that knocked the air from the lungs.

 

Asami’s chest was on fire. Everything was a blur of greenish brown, already going black around the edges. Her lungs were screaming, agony like she’d never felt, her vision was going blurry and the steering column was crushing her legs against the seat. No matter how she kicked or twisted she couldn’t work it loose. _Stupid, shitty, Cabbage Corp..._ Something shifted in her peripheral vision. She looked up in time to see the fist slam against the windscreen once again. She opened her mouth in shock, losing more precious air. Asami braced herself against the seat and tried to wrench her legs free but it was useless. _Please. Please, please, please..._ she looked towards the blurry blue figure, still hammering on the glass. _Please_.

The last thing she saw was a blazing white light.

 

Bolin had ‘found’ a way up onto one of the bridge’s concrete supports and Opal was having far more success with CPR than was statistically likely. It would have been less painful with Korra on hand to bend out the water rather than just force unwilling lungs to breathe again but at least they _were_ breathing again, huddled together on the tiny concrete outcrop, sodden and shivering, but alive. Someone was doing a headcount, not that Opal needed to be told.  
“Korra and Asami are still down there.” She looked at her watch but it had stopped on being submerged, not that she’d known the time they’d hit the water. Too long, by any measure. Bolin caught her eye.   
“Should we go back down?” He asked quietly, not asking _are you strong enough to go back down? Can we risk exposing ourselves?_ Opal didn’t have an answer.

The surface of the water split open, Korra powering towards the concrete perch with a limp body in her arms. She propelled herself out of the water without even bothering to pretend to climb the steep rough sides of the support and lay Asami down gently. Her head lolled to one side, wet black hair fanning out beneath her cheek.  
“Shit...” Bolin saw the glowing white eyes of the Avatar state. He pushed one of the more inquisitive students back down before he could spot it too. “Give her some space, for crying out loud!”

Opal kneeled at Korra’s side, trying to block the Avatar from view as much as possible as she pulled dirty water from Asami’s lungs and pushed air in. Asami’s chest rose and fell but at Korra’s command, not under her own power. Korra’s brow furrowed. With one hand she kept moving the air, in and out, the other rolled a ball of water into being, easing the glowing sphere across Asami’s chest. She found a spot and focused on it, until Asami winced and coughed, fighting Korra’s control of her breathing. Korra relaxed, letting the water splash back onto the stone. She closed her eyes, blinking them back to blue.  
“Whoa...” she closed her eyes again for a moment, feeling dangerously lightheaded as she sat back on her heels. “Ope? We get them all?”  
“We did.” Opal reassured her. Korra grinned, punching the air weakly.  
“Fuck yeah we did! Oh.” She rested her hands against her thighs, as if to steady herself. “Ok. Opal?”  
“Hmm?”  
“I think...” she paused, thinking hard. “Yeah.” She nodded. “Yeah, I think I’m gonna pass out for a little bit, ok?” She gave Opal a rather dopey-looking smile. Opal put her arm around her as she sagged against her.   
“You did good, you big lump.”  
“ _We_ did good,” Korra mumbled, leaning against Opal’s shoulder. “Wake me up when rescue arrives, ok?”

 

Kya was not going frantic. She was not. She was a medical professional and medical professionals are never frantic. But she did set a new hospital record for time to A&E as the ambulances began to arrive from the bridge crash, and the knot in her chest did only loosen when she saw three very familiar faces sat together, wrapped in matching foil blankets. Korra stood as she approached, welcoming the hug.  
“You kids had we worried for a second there,” Kya told them when she finally let go of Korra, hugging Opal and Bolin in turn. They shared a guilty look. “Not on the bus, huh?”  
They nodded. Kya surveyed them, still dripping and shivering.  
“It’s a stupid, stupid world when you think you might get in trouble for doing the right thing. Everyone’s still alive and that’s down to you three. If anyone, particularly certain robe-wearing buffoons, has a go at you for it they’ll be answering to me.” She turned, calling down the ward. “Hey, Himiko, any problem with my jumping in and dealing with my goddaughter and her friends?”  
“Go nuts!” Himiko called back. Kya collected their charts from the desk.   
“Ok. Korra, you’re up first.”

Korra hopped up onto the little table with a squelch, shrugging off the foil blanket. Kya passed her a bag and she pulled off her sodden shirt with a little difficulty, dumping it inside.   
“I hate pretending to be normal,” she grumbled as Kya looked her over. “Do you know how aggravating it is to have to let yourself get hypothermia, just so you don’t stand out?”   
“Oh, I don’t know, about as aggravating as finding out your favourite idiot forgot to mention to the paramedics that she was bleeding?”  
“I’m not...” Korra stopped. There was a cut across the back of her arm. “huh.”  
Kya circled her.   
“Your back as well, and judging by the stain on your jeans your cut your leg too.”  
Korra closed her eyes, trying to remember. The cold and the adrenaline crash were fogging up her brain.  
“I broke through the windscreen. Maybe some of the framework, I can’t...” The picture in her mind was hazy. She thought she remembered shattering the glass, her bruised knuckles certainly testified to that version of events, and then ripping apart the panel, bending back the steering column... “Asami!” Korra remembered. “Her lung. She had a punctured lung and I tried to fix it but I don’t know...”  
“I’ll make sure it’s checked out, don’t worry,” Kya told her calmly, pushing her back on to the table she didn’t remember jumping off. “They tend to do a full work up on car crash victims. She’s in good hands. So take a breath and let me have a look at what you’ve done to yourself this time.”  
Korra scowled a little but she did so. Kya took her arm gently, turning it a little. Broken glass glittered when it caught the light. “Well this is kind of nasty. Can you, just _once_ , do the heroics without getting yourself hurt?”  
“I’ll work on that.” Korra promised.

 

Lin Beifong hung up the phone, pinching the bridge of her nose. This was not going to be fun. She picked up the handset again, dialling a number.  
“Mako, can you get in here please?”  
She shouldn’t have said ‘please’. He’d known something was wrong the moment she said it.

 

Asami blinked the world back into focus. She felt like death. Warm, groggy, high-as-fuck death. Everything hurt from her the roots of her hair down. She went through the checklist as much as she could remember before she’d drifted off. Concussion, six stitches in her scalp. Broken nose, which was more upsetting than the broken ribs from hitting the wheel, her legs were aching where they’d been crushed, and it felt like she was bruised inside and out. Which, give or take twenty long medical words that won lots of points at scrabble, was pretty much the case. Overall, she’d had better days. At least they were giving her the good pain relief. Her dad was going to pitch a fit when he found out that it had been a Cabbage Corp van. _And speaking of Hiroshi_...Asami belatedly looked to the bedside, expecting to see her father sat there, probably working away on his laptop and too engrossed to notice she had come round. He wasn’t there. Asami blinked again, wondering what exactly they’d given her because she was clearly hallucinating. Korra was apparently lying across two chairs, wearing baby blue scrubs and fluffy red socks. There was a blanket in the process of falling off of her as she fidgeted in her sleep. Opal and Bolin were sat up against the wall, curled round each other, so wrapped in blankets they resembled an overstuffed burrito. Asami sat up a little more, despite the painful protest from her broken ribs. _Wait..._ She remembered a fist beating frantically against the glass. A glimpse of wide blue eyes in the murk, just before she’d blacked out. She looked back to Korra, to the bruised knuckles resting on top of the blanket. Asami sank back into the pillows, trying to process. She’d realised _someone_ had had to have pulled her out, she hadn’t been having much luck herself, but she’d assumed someone in the bus had gotten ahold of her. How could Korra have even gotten down to the water fast enough?  
“Hi there.”

Asami turned. An older woman was stood in the doorway in a lab coat, holding a cardboard drinks carrier, complete with four steaming takeaway cups. She set them down on the bedside table.   
“I’m Kya. Doctor Kya, if you’re feeling formal, but I’m off the clock now so...Kya.”  
“Asami. But it probably says that on the end of the bed. If you’re off the clock...” Asami’s foggy brain made the connection. “Oh, them. Right.”  
“We couldn’t get through to your father,” Kya said apologetically. “And they offered to stay and keep you company...” Bolin chose that moment to let out a loud snore. “...and a fantastic job they’re doing there...” Kya muttered, and then continued in a louder tone, “If you want I can ask them to leave.”  
“No, no, that’s fine,” Asami said hurriedly. She looked back at Korra who seemed to be struggling to find a comfortable position in her makeshift bed. “It’s, um, it’s nice.” She added honestly.

Korra groaned in her sleep, turning over and losing her blanket in the process. Kya frowned.  
“Excuse me a moment?”   
She set down the drinks and crossed over, bending over the sleeping figure. Asami couldn’t hear what Kya was saying but the tone was low and soothing, one hand on Korra’s upper arm and the other on her cheek. Korra seemed to wake rather abruptly and Kya held her against the chair for a moment before letting her sit up, all but jumping to her feet when she saw Asami was awake. She tried to sock-slide across the lino to the bedside, forgetting she was wearing grip-lined hospital issue socks. She bounced over instead.  
“Well hey there!” she beamed.  
“Hey,” Asami gave her a small smile, but it was no less bright.

Mako arrived a little later, with a change of clothes for everyone. Well, almost. Korra examined the pile he’d offered her with a raised eyebrow.  
“Forget something?” She asked. Mako looked at her blankly. Judging by the look Opal was giving Korra she was in the same boat. Korra sighed. “Underwear, Mako. Did you bring any?”  
Mako went pink.   
“I...uh...”  
“Oh, Kyoshi’s tits!” Korra swore, to Asami’s amusement. “And unsupported tits at that! Seriously? How the fuck can you be embarrassed by underwear? We dated, Mako! You’ve taken my underwear off with your damn _teeth_...”  
“I did _not_ need to hear that,” Bolin groaned to Opal who made a sympathetic noise and put her hands over his ears.  
“...you’ve worn my underwear...”  
“Wait, _what?_ ” Bolin pulled Opal’s hands off quickly.  
“But you couldn’t fish a sodding pair of pants and a bra out my drawer?”  
Mako was properly scarlet by this point. Asami was trying to stifle her giggles, the laughter hurting her busted ribs.  
“I’d like to clarify that they were boyshorts and it was dark...” he started.  
“Oh, spare us from fragile masculinity,” Korra muttered, loud enough for them all to hear. “Did you at least bring a hoody or something?”  
Mako found the garment in the bag and threw it to her.   
“Sorry.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I uh, I wasn’t thinking. I kinda panicked.”  
“Don’t worry, supercop,” Opal smiled. “I won’t tell my aunt that you’re afraid of ladies’ underwear.”  
Mako sagged. He’d have thought finding out his brother had jumped off a bridge would have been the lowest point in his day but he had clearly been mistaken. He did his best to compose himself, gave them a nod, and stepped through the door. They heard a muffled _‘oh FUCK’_ from the other side. The remaining four looked at each other.  
“How long do you think he’ll stay in the bathroom before he admits he got the wrong door?”

 

Asami examined her face in the bathroom mirror. She didn’t look too bad, a little drained, and her hair was a complete mess, but for nearly dying she was doing pretty well. _Nearly dying_. She tried to unthink it, gripping the basin. _Ok. Slow breaths. You’re ok. Just a little wobbly, that’s all.  
_ “You ok in there?” Korra called from the room. “Haven’t blacked out on me, have you?”  
“I’ll just be a minute,” Asami called back, turning on the taps to splash cold water on her face. _You’re alive. You’re ok. Everyone’s alive._ The little, nasty thought bounced around her head. _No thanks to you._ She could hear Korra moving around in the next room, and it was a reassurance as she closed her eyes and tried to remember why, how everything had gone so wrong. _The van jerked to the left..._ It hurt her head just thinking about it.

She gave up, splashing her face again. She pushed her way back into the main room and stopped dead. Korra was facing away from her, pulling the borrowed scrub top off over her head. Asami watched the muscles shift, saw the square of bandage taped to her shoulder where the worst of the scraping seemed to lead to. She stooped, grabbing the loose shirt Mako had brought her and put it on. She turned, seeing Asami watching her.  
“Enjoying the show?” She teased, and Asami blushed.   
“I didn’t mean...”  
“It’s fine, not like I’ve never shared a changing room before,” Korra said easily. She studied Asami. “You feeling ok? You look a bit...odd.”  
Asami shrugged. It hurt and she stopped quickly.   
“How am I supposed to feel?”  
Korra thought about it. “Yeah, fair point. How’s your head though? Looks sore.”  
“Oh, it is. It really is.”

Asami sat on the edge of the bed and Korra hopped up beside her.  
“I wish I could remember what happened.”  
“Retrograde amnesia. It’s pretty common.” It was Korra’s turn to shrug at Asami’s questioning look. “I’ve had more than my fair share of knocks. Go through it enough times and even a concussed hogmonkey will pick things up.”  
Asami’s hand found Korra’s. She looked down at it rather than at the girl sitting next to her.  
“Thank you.” She said. It seemed woefully lacking in the circumstances. “I should have said it earlier I just...thank you.” Her voice wobbled. “I’d be...fuck, I’d be...”  
Korra squeezed her hand.  
“It’s ok. Hey, Asami, look at me. It’s ok. You’re ok.”  
Asami looked up into those pretty blue eyes.   
“Thanks to you,” she said, and she leant forward and kissed her. Korra was too stunned to reciprocate for a moment but she soon got over it.

Asami flinched when Korra’s hand brushed against her ribs and Korra jumped back.  
“Fuck!” she put a hand to her head. “Fuck, I shouldn’t be doing this. Not like that!” She added hurriedly, because Asami was looking heartbroken. Korra took a breath, finding Asami’s hand again. “Asami, no, not like...” she sighed. “You’re kinda having a rough day. And you’re still really quite stoned, and you’re concussed, so I just...it’s like I’m taking advantage.”  
Asami looked at the expression of pure worry on Korra’s face and didn’t know how to react. She settled for sarcasm.  
“Oh yeah,” she said dryly. “Really taking advantage of me... you all...having lips and...stuff...”   
Maybe Korra had a point about her mental faculties right now. Korra grinned. She craned her neck up, giving Asami a kiss on the forehead.   
“In the morning, or whatever, when you’re feeling a bit more like yourself, if you still want...” she gestured vaguely between the two of them. “Well, you just let me know, ok? Because, as I think you might have guessed, I’d be very much on board. But I like my women compos mentis so we might need to hang fire here.”  
Asami shook her head ruefully.  
“Such a gentleman. Gentlewoman. Gentle...whatever. Your parents should be proud.”  
“I also open doors, pull out chairs, and buy flowers,” Korra responded in a mock-serious voice. Asami snorted.  
“I will, you know? Want this. You. Besides,” she added, feeling warm inside at how brightly Korra was smiling, “pretty sure you still owe me a drink.”  
Korra laughed.

 

Lin rubbed her temples and reread the statement from the bridge security office. It didn’t make any sense. She knew exactly which officers had been on that bridge, right down to the crime scene techs in their white plastic onsies. The description of the officer who had collected the tapes did not match any of them. She sent the balls of the little executive toy Mako had bought her clacking together with a wave of her hand. The clicks helped her to think. She halted the balls after a few minutes. Official procedure could catch up on its own time. She was calling Kya and inspecting that van tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, poor Mako, I'm sure if Lin ever finds out about this she'll be very mature about it...
> 
> Am I forgiven for driving Asami off a bridge yet?


	12. One Long Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra and Asami get some time to bond and Lin tries to get to the bottom of the crash.

Korra had her feet up on Asami’s bed, toes wiggling as she examined the cards in her hand. Asami’s face was neutral, well, as neutral as it could be with a painfully swollen broken nose, as she waited for Korra to make her move.   
“hmmm...” Korra looked up at last and grinned. “Three threes, and jack to ace.” She lay the cards down with a grin on the little tray table. Asami groaned and threw her hand down in disgust.   
“I thought you didn’t like take advantage of the mentally rattled,” she complained as Korra claimed the pot. “Hey, quit eating the winnings!”  
“Wof the poin’ o’ gummy rears if ‘ou an’ ee em?” Korra managed through a mouthful of the gummy bears in question. She swallowed. “Your deal.”  
Asami was still scowling as she picked up the cards.

Asami was spared another defeat by the arrival of an orderly bearing gifts. Or rather, dinner. Asami gathered up the deck as two plates were set down.  
“Hungry, Asami?” Korra asked. The orderly pushed one plate towards Korra.  
“Kya swung it so you could get dinner too.”  
“She shouldn’t have.”  
“Oh it’s really no trouble...”  
“No,” Korra eyed the plate, “she _really_ shouldn’t have _.”_  
“She warned me you might say that,” the man chuckled. “And she said if you did I was to remind you that you already blacked out once today so she’d totally be justified in keeping your ass in overnight, so eat the damn food.”  
Korra picked up her cutlery reluctantly, trying to ignore the look Asami was giving her. She lasted less than a minute.   
“Really? The kicked puppy look?”  
“You didn’t tell me.”  
“Well, it kind of pales into insignificance compared to the whole,” Korra gesticulated with her fork irritably, “not breathing thing! I just pushed myself too hard. No,” She corrected herself. “I pushed myself _exactly_ as hard as I needed to because otherwise somebody would be dead right about now. Maybe multiple.  I’m ok with a little adrenaline-crash wooziness in exchange!” Korra noticed the look of alarm and sat back a little. “Sorry. I just...I couldn’t...” Korra rubbed the back of her neck, looking away from Asami. “I couldn’t leave anyone down there, ok? I’m Water Tribe for crying out loud.” Her face twisted into a peculiar grimace. “We don’t leave people to drown.”  
Asami’s brain might have still been on the fuzzy side but she caught the edge to Korra’s voice. She cleared her throat, bringing Korra back to the present.   
 “Korra, what...”  
Korra just laughed and shook her head. “Oh no, we are not even touching that tonight.” Asami thought about objecting but this angle she could see the bags under Korra’s eyes. “Now come on, eat your...soggy rice slop with mystery meat...before it gets cold.”  
Korra dug in with gusto, if not enthusiasm. Asami watched her more a moment before resigning herself to following suit.

It was a small comfort that the food was not as bad as it looked. At the very least, as Asami would privately admit, it was better than her last attempt to cook.

 

Lin wished Kya wasn’t working. She found her presence rather less grating than the White Lotus guard currently serving as her personal submarine. She paced around the minibus, her feet squelching in the mud. The vehicle was still lying on its side, the grille and bonnet mangled from the impact with the crash barrier, one side crumpled in from contact with the other van. It had definitely been a close one.    
“Well?” she asked Mako, who just shrugged.  
“I don’t know enough about cars to even begin to guess. That said...” He swallowed as Lin’s eyebrow arched up ever so slightly. He fumbled out his notebook. “Sato’s got extensive driving experience. I can’t see this being a simple case of driver error.”  
Lin nodded in agreement and Mako relaxed.   
“You’re still missing the obvious,” she told him.  
“I am?”  
Lin sighed. “Detective of the year, you. Tell me, Mako. How many wheels does a vehicle generally have?”  
“I...oh. Huh.” Mako stared at the spaces where the nearside wheels should have been. The metal ended in a jagged point, as if the wheels had been snapped off. “That’s...unusual.”  
Lin rolled her eyes. “Understatement of the year. Don’t worry, I’m sure you would have caught it eventually.”  
Mako felt slightly mollified, until she added, “Unless they were hiding in a woman’s underwear drawer.”  
Mako would have been quite happy for the White Lotus to just let him drown right about then.

 

Asami looked up at the sound of passing footsteps but the door handle didn’t turn. Korra had stepped out to make a quick call and still hadn’t come back. It was childish but Asami hoped she’d be done soon. She really didn’t like hospitals.

 

Korra leaned against the high top of the nurse’s station, phone in hand.  
“Yes I...no, I don’t understand. What?” She looked around the room, wishing there was somewhere else she could have this conversation but Kya was off somewhere actually doing her job. “That’s...that’s a development, at least. Yes. Yes I’m aware this would have been easier on my mobile. BECAUSE IT’S FULL OF RIVER SLUDGE, LIN!” One of the nurses gave Korra a disapproving look. “...and yes, I’m glared at now. Thank you for that. Look,” she dropped her voice. “can you just pass this all along to Tenzin? I...No, Lin, I’m fine. I’m just waiting for Sato senior to show his moustache. You’d think his daughter nearly dying would light a fire under his ass but last I checked they still hadn’t got through to him. You will? That’d be great. No, that wasn’t sarcastic. Really. Good luck.” Korra hung up the phone, rubbing her eyes.   
“You’re Kya’s whatever, right?” The nurse at the station asked.   
“That’s me.” Korra answered warily.   
The nurse pointed at a door. “Staff coffee point. Go get yourself a cup. It’s better than the sludge in the machines.”  
Korra bowed reverentially. “You are a _wonderful_ person.”  

   
Korra dropped into her seat, set the coffee down and picked up her cards. She used them to cover her mouth as she yawned and Asami felt guilty all over again. She had managed to persuade Bolin and Opal to go home but Korra was proving rather more stubborn. Asami knew it was selfish, and she was reminded of that every time Korra hid a yawn, but she couldn’t bring herself to really try to get her to leave. She didn’t want her to. She tried to tell herself she was being stupid, that she was twenty one, an adult, that she didn’t need someone here to hold her hand but her chest hurt and she felt sick every time her breath snagged in her chest, every time her ribs throbbed. There was no comfort in the crisply laundered sheets and this impersonal room, and the noises and the lights and the smells...  
“Hey,” Korra couldn’t reach her hand from her current position so she squeezed her knee through the blanket instead. “Breathe, Asami. You’re ok.”  
“Sor-”  
“Don’t you even try it.” Korra said evenly. “What’s up?”  
“I just...” Asami’s lip wobbled. “I’m being stupid. I just...I really want to go home, ok? I don’t want to be here. I just want to go home and curl up and pretend this never happened!” she dragged her hand across her eyes, wiping away tears of frustration. Korra decided sympathy via kneecap was not doing the job. She set down her cards and scooted up, putting a hand on Asami’s shoulder. Asami looked up with red rimmed eyes. “I’m being ridiculous, I know I...”  
“You’re in a shitty situation and you’ve got every right to feel sorry for yourself.” Korra said patiently. “And if I had a driving licence...and a car...I’d take you home right now, except...”  
“Except they want to keep me in here overnight.” Asami finished miserably. Korra squeezed her shoulder gently.   
“I know it’s a bit trite to say it but, well, it really could be worse.”  
 Asami bit her lip and nodded, still a little watery eyed. “At least it’s just for the night. Besides, look at the setup you’ve got here! Your own bed, all the gummy platypus bears you can eat,” there were rather few of them left by now, “and fantastic company!”  
“Fantastic company?” Asami repeated. “Where?”  
Korra’s hand went to her chest. “You wound me!” she spluttered, in mock indignation.  
“Good thing we’re in a hospital then.”

Korra jolted awake. Someone, probably the same person who had put a blanket over her and tucked Asami in, had turned down the lights. There was another figure in the room, sat on the opposite side of the bed to Asami. Korra staggered upright, nearly tripping over her blanket, but then her brain caught up.   
“Mr Sato?” she asked quietly, so as to not disturb Asami.   
He turned to look up at her. He looked older in the half-light, and tired, sat there in a crumpled shirt.   
“Please, call me Hiroshi. You’ve more than earned that.”  
Korra sank back into the chair, rubbing sleep from her eyes. “When...”  
“I got here about half an hour ago. It’s almost midnight.”  
Korra tried to work out when she had nodded off but gave up.   
“I had my phone off,” Hiroshi said, and there was no venom in his voice. It sounded more like despair. “I was in a meeting in Omashu and I had my phone off and Asami...” he swallowed. “You must think I’m a terrible father but I swear, as soon as I found out...”  
“Have they told you everything?” Korra asked, cutting through his self recriminations a little rudely, but in her defence she was barely awake. Besides, she wasn’t the one he needed to justify himself to. Hiroshi nodded.   
“How is she?”  
Korra looked down at the sleeping figure between them.   
“About as well as could be expected,” she said truthfully. “So she’s bloody shaken up and doing a damn good job of pretending she’s absolutely fine.”  
Hiroshi gave a small laugh.  
“Sounds like Asami.”

Korra settled into the back seat of the taxi Hiroshi had insisted on calling and paying for her rather than letting her walk over to the docks. She had barely dissuaded him from calling his chauffer, or letting him have the rather sad looking bag of soaking clothes she’d been wearing that morning professionally cleaned. The White Lotus man was mercifully quiet as he steered the boat across the short stretch of dark water, not commenting on the fact Korra had taken a seat on the middle bench rather than her usual position.

Naga was waiting for her at the docks, and Korra was only too grateful to heave herself onto her back and let the polar bear dog take the strain of the climb. She need no prompting to carry her exhausted master to her room, stopping by the bedside. Korra didn’t dismount as much as fall off onto the mattress with a groan. Naga whined and nosed at her until Korra sat up again, removing her still-damp shoes and kicking the squelchy bag off the mattress before it could leak. She looked at Naga’s concerned face and sighed, shoving the bedside table away about two feet. The dog wiggled into the gap, resting her head up on the mattress as Korra burrowed down into an actual bed at last.

Korra’s dream were full of water. Not the murky sludge of the river but the crystal clear water, so cold it burned her skin, stung her eyes, burned her throat. Her legs kicked sluggishly and she went under, once, twice. She flailed blindly, lungs on fire, finding the needle sharp broken ice. She saw the shadow above and _crack_...

Korra woke to a wall of soft white, clutching at her wrist. She sat up, pressing back against the side of the bed she’d toppled off. She wrapped her arms around Naga’s neck, burying her face in the fur as she tried to slow her racing heart.   
“That was a bad one, hey?” she tried to joke, but her voice was shaky, her chest painfully tight. “Sorry girl, didn’t mean to land on you like that.”   
Naga did not seem comforted. Korra loosened her grip, rubbing at her wrist, unsure just how real the pain radiating from the limb was. “I’ll be right back, ok?” She promised Naga, getting unsteadily to her feet. Naga watched her go.

Korra stumbled down the hall to the kitchen, lighting the lamps with an irritable wave. She fetched the little step and retrieved the little tea caddy from its nook right on the top shelf. He opened the tin, inhaling the sweet, heady scent. It would have been faster just to smoke it, but Tenzin had views on that. Besides, her chest was already burning. She fetched the little mortar and pestle instead, following the recipe Kya had explained to her.

She became aware of the presence behind her as she heated the mixture between her hands but she didn’t turn around until she was finished, making sure to return the caddy to its high spot out of the reach of the younger acolytes. She sat down at the low table, trying not to trust her now twice injured arm with any weight, and motioned for Tenzin to join her. He did so, and they sat in silence as Korra sipped at her tea, feeling the knot in her chest finally begin to loosen.

“Lin called me.” Tenzin told her. She nodded in acknowledgement. “It doesn’t look like an accident.”  
Korra snorted into her cup.   
“I could have told you that.”  
“Is there anyone who you can think of that might have wanted to do this?”  
Korra considered this and shook her head. “No way to predict who was going to be in what bus. Asami wasn’t even down to drive; that was a last minute thing.”  
“I’ll relay that to Lin.” Tenzin looked troubled. “Could somebody be targeting the students?”  
“Why? I mean, yes, ok, if you believe the Daily Republic we’re a bunch of drunken, drug-addled, lazy, incompetent, self-righteous fuckwits...” Korra saw Tenzin’s slight frown at the word and pressed on hurriedly, “but that’s really not a reason to try kill us, surely?”  
“I doubt it.”  
Korra set down the now empty cup and went back to rubbing her wrist.   
“One to worry about tomorrow,” she decided. “I should really get some rest.”  
Tenzin gestured to the cup.   
“Do you need another? You still look a little...” He hesitated. “Out of sorts?” he suggested. Korra raised an eyebrow.  
“You trying to tell me I look like hell?”  
“...yes. But politely.” Tenzin extended his hand and, after a moment’s consideration, Korra extended the teacup. Tenzin rose, tightening his dressing gown about him.

“I thought you didn’t approve?” Korra asked as Tenzin ground the buds.   
“My mother has used this for years, Korra.”  
“Then why...”  
“I do not approve of _smoking_ on the temple grounds.” He said, as if this was obvious. “It taints the air. Here,” Tenzin handed it to her to heat. “I do appreciate you and Kya switching to drinking it.”  
“We decided baking it into brownies would only go terribly,” Korra admitted. “We figured Meelo would get his hands on them and then spirits only knows. Probably end up with an army of stoned flying lemurs and that seemed like a bad idea.”  
Tenzin had gone a little pale.

Korra shuffled back into her room and fetched an old handset from her beside drawer. She always left it charged; she lost way too many phones in her unofficial line of work. Korra flopped onto her bed, Naga settling her head across her midriff. Korra reached down to give her a reassuring scratch behind the ears as it rang.  
“Hey, mum.”  
“ _Korra? Sweetheart, it’s very late in Republic City, isn’t it? Are you ok?”  
_ “It is. And I’m ok.” Korra sighed, closing her eyes. “I’ve just had one hell of a day.”  
Korra heard the scrape of a chair and a rustle as her mother sat down.   
“ _Do you want to talk about it?”_

When Ikki came to fetch Korra for breakfast the next morning she found her still sound asleep, her phone still sat on the pillow beside her head. She closed the door quietly, leaving Korra to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! Love it? Hate it? Let me know! (er, that's the chapter. I have a feeling none of you are loving the delays but unfortunately my lecturers don't accept "sorry, I was writing fanfiction" as an excuse for why I haven't done my work).


	13. Pleasant Distractions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra and Asami get a little closer and the Equalists are getting more dangerous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know, I suck at updating on time. I've had this chapter half written for weeks but I'm in the middle of string of essays with a 15,000 combined word count and I had to prioritise. Thanks for sticking with it and me, hope what I've finally put down makes up for the delay somewhat.

“Korra, you _have_ to save me,” Asami pleaded. Korra just chuckled.   
“Come on, it can’t be that bad.”  
“I’m not allowed to do anything!” Asami whined. “ _Anything!_ I’m going mad here! You’ve got to bust me out or something, please!”  
“Oh, the horror!” Korra teased. “Resting up in comfort. However will you survive the torment of daytime TV? The ordeal of jasmine tea?”  
“You’re an asshole,” Asami told her, and Korra could almost hear the pout in her voice.   
“Oh yes, such an asshole, not busting you out of your doctor-ordered rest.”  
“They said a couple of days! Not life imprisonment!”  
“IT’S BEEN THREE FUCKING DAYS, ASAMI.”  
“Four!”  
“The day you got discharged doesn’t count!”  
“...fine.” Asami conceded sulkily. “Three. Three of the most boring days of my life! Have you ever been stuck inside for that long? Can you even imagine...”  
“One bad winter we were stuck in the lodge for almost a month,” Korra cut her off pleasantly. “Without electricity, I might add.”  
“...I’m not going to win this, am I?”  
“No, no you aren’t.”  
Asami just groaned into the handset.

“Can you at least let me live vicariously through you? Get up to anything interesting recently?”  
Korra considered the question, filtering out the bits she knew she wasn’t supposed to be sharing.   
“I kicked a journalist into the sea yesterday,” She remembered, and heard Asami splutter. In truth it hadn’t been that dramatic. Unsurprisingly the near death and dramatic rescue of several students and, more importantly in terms of newspaper sales, Hiroshi Sato’s only child, had been headline news, and everyone had wanted a photo of the hero of the hour to complement the one of her half-unconscious from exhaustion being loaded into an ambulance. The somewhat complex legal standing of the island had protected Korra from further intrusion, provided she didn’t dare stick a toe on the mainland. This mutually unsatisfactory truce had been violated by the reporter from the Daily Republic Mail, who hadn’t been prepared to take no for an answer and whose photographer companion seemed similarly reluctant to understand common courtesy. After being escorted from the temple grounds by the White Lotus they had foolishly chosen to make their stand regarding journalistic freedoms on the jetty. Lin had had to get involved in the resulting argument to prevent them pressing charges; apparently a dip in sea water had not done their camera any good. Korra relayed a slightly exaggerated version of events for Asami’s amusement, and she laughed until her ribs hurt.

“I’m sorry about the damn paparazzi. Thought they’d have lost interest by now, but I guess with me keeping a low profile they needed to find someone else to annoy. I’ll get dad to have a word.”  
“You really don’t...” Korra began, but Asami wasn’t hearing it.   
“Ok, let’s take the knee-jerk  response and stick it to one side. Are they interfering with the monks...monking?”  
“Kinda, yeah. Well, they’re not helping at least.”   
“Then they need to be stopped. Besides, I might just have an ulterior motive.”  
“...oh?”  
Korra heard Asami take a deep breath. The words still came out a little rushed.  
“I waswonderingifyouwantedtocomeoverfordinnermaybe? As in, um, just you. Not the others. Likes us, dinner...uh, help?”  
“I’d love to,” Korra answered, and there was a rush of breath as Asami sighed in relief. “That’s not going to be too energetic for you, is it, captain concussion?”  
“Energetic?” Asami repeated, amused. “Bit presumptuous, Korra, I only invited you for dinner.”  
Asami could almost feel Korra reddening through the phone. “And yes, I’ll be fine. I’m basically back to normal. Well, my head is at least. My ribs are still killing me.”

With the logistics agreed Korra returned to what could generously be described as what she was working on. She picked up the pen, tapping it against the sheet. There was something she was missing, she knew it. She looked at the two columns she had written out, waiting for some flash of inspiration, but nothing came. Between the columns headed ‘factory fire’ and ‘bus crash’ she wrote, almost unwillingly, the letters faint on the page, ‘Sato connection?’.

Nothing made any damn sense, that was the problem. There was no overlap; even the Sato link was fuzzy at best. They hadn’t even been at the factory that night, and there was no way to know Asami would end up in that van, and yet on some level Korra knew the events were linked. It was a perk of sharing body with a nigh on immortal spirit; when it came to instincts Ravaa’s took some beating. Korra knew better than to doubt them at this point, and Ravaa was fairly certain there was something between the two events. Korra rubbed her eyes, trying to wake herself up. She ignored the presence that entered unasked, coming up behind her and leaning over her shoulder to read her scrawling.   
“Didn’t Lin threaten you with something unspeakable if she caught you trying to work on that case?” Jinora asked. Korra nodded. “Then why...”  
“Because it was so unspeakable she didn’t actually specify, and vague threats don’t scare me. Besides, didn’t I threaten to dropkick you off the nearest cliff if you barged in unannounced again?”  
Jinora gave her a withering stare that was unnerving on a girl her age.   
“Sure. Threaten the girl who can basically _fly_ with falling. You going to threaten Bolin with a mudpack next, or would you rather chase Kya down with a water pistol?”  
“...next time I’m letting Vaatu eat you.”  
“Whatever you say, Kor.” Jinora turned away. “Oh, and if you can take a break from playing amateur detective it’s time to eat.”

Korra nearly bowled Jinora over on her way to the dining room.

 

Opal had made it over to the island, and Mako was on a rare night off so the four of them trooped down to the cavern for a few after dinner drinks. If Korra had hoped, on any level, that this would result in Mako being more forthcoming with the details of the investigation than he had been previously she was disappointed. He was being very professional about it, which Korra of course respected.  
“Ah, come on, you’ve got to give me _something!_ ” Korra pouted. Mako, entirely deadpan, gave her a bottle of beer.   
“You suck. You know that, right?”

“We should go to the Giggling Squid soon,” Opal announced a little while later, as the alcohol stores began to run dry. “Not tonight,” she amended as Mako, tired out from a long shift, started to snore on the cave floor. “Tomorrow maybe. Or the day after.”  
Korra coughed into her beer.   
“What was that?”  
“I, uh, can’t do the day after.”  
Opal narrowed her eyes. “Korra, you didn’t go getting other friends behind our backs, did you?”  
“Not quite...” Korra looked down. Opal made an unholy noise that had Mako jerking awake as if they were under attack. She pointed one incredulous finger at Korra and asked, in a disbelieving tone.  
“Asami?”  
“Opal, it’s just dinner...” Korra tried, but it was too late.  
“OH MY FUCKING SPIRITS. IT’S HAPPENING. IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING!”

 

Two days later Korra was rocking on her heels on the Sato mansion steps. The paparazzi were even more keen on getting Asami’s picture than they were Korra’s and Asami had no desire to appear in every tabloid with a still broken nose so they’d decided just to eat in, not that that was any less nerve wracking for Korra. She was already regretting her choice of outfit for the sixth time. Why hadn’t she gone for Opal’s suggestion again? That shirt looked great on her. Save it for a later date? What the hell was she thinking?! _Shit, shit, what if Mr Sato is here, this is not formal enough...ah crap, too late._ The door was opening.   
“Well hey there, stranger.” Asami smiled.   
“Hey.”

Asami, as always, looked effortlessly elegant, even with a nose still slightly swollen from its collision with the steering wheel.   
“Your nose looks less mangled,” Korra said, and froze as she registered the words that she’d just said. “I meant...it’s not as bruised...than it was...you know...err...” She stopped. Gently she pushed Asami back into the hallway and pulled the door closed. Asami heard a noise suspiciously like Korra’s head hitting the doorframe a few times and then there was a gentle knock on the door. She opened it again.   
“Hi there,” Korra grinned, still a little red. “Good to see you, it’s been too long.”  
 “You you can’t just restart reality like it’s a video game, right?” Asami asked, amused, as she stood back to let Korra into the hall.   
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 “I was going to bring wine,” Korra admitted. “And then I didn’t know if you were still on painkillers and I know those do _not_ mix with alcohol, Bo’s got the photos to prove it, so I panicked and, uh,” She sheepishly held up a large tub of jellybeans. “I don’t even know,” She admitted. “I should have just asked, like a sane person. I kinda suck at this.”  
Asami took the jellybean-free hand.   
“I think you’re doing just fine.” 

Sato Senior was thankfully once again away on business. Even more thankfully the chef was not, as Asami sheepishly admitted she quite literally couldn’t cook to save her life.  
“It’s kinda reassuring to find there’s actually something you can’t do,” Korra joked and Asami rolled her eyes.

“So...” Korra paused as she dropped onto the sofa, taking the offered beer. “How’ve you been doing? You’ve sounded pretty ok on the phone.”  
“Mainly ok,” Asami admitted. She’d skipped the evening’s painkillers to allow herself a little wine, which she sipped before answering. “Some bad dreams, but nothing too atrocious. I’m good at dealing with things, I guess. You?”  
Korra frowned.   
“Me?”  
“Something you said, at the hospital. You’ve been through something like this, haven’t you?”  
Korra hesitated.  
“Not exactly.” She made a dismissive gesture. “It’s not exactly a happy, cheery, first-date-kinda story.”  
“First date?”  
Korra went red.   
“I thought...”  
“Whoa, whoa.” Asami held up her hands. “That’s not...I meant, I didn’t really think of this as a date because we’re just in my house. That was very much not an objection to there being a first date. I am very onboard with that.”  
Korra let out a low sigh of relief, her head flopping back onto the sofa cushions.   
“Kyoshi’s tits, give me a heart attack why don’t you?”  
“My apologies. It can be very worrying when people give the wrong impression.” She gave Korra a playful nudge in the ribs. “Like, say, jumping back in the middle of a kiss to declare they shouldn’t be doing it.”  
“...yeah, my bad.”

In the comfortable silence that followed Asami found herself taking Korra’s hand again. Korra waited for the pause that told her Asami had noticed the slight misalignment of the digits.   
“Yeah.” She wiggled them for emphasis. “I broke my hand. Well. It got broke.”  
“Punching someone?” Asami guessed. Korra shook her head.   
“No, it was The Thing. The water thing. Um. What you were asking about. You know that whole testing process the Equalists cooked up?”  
Asami nodded hesitantly. Korra continued. “Designed to be entirely safe, right? No risk to life or limb, full of failsafes. Well they kinda didn’t bother with that in the South.” She made a face. “Not enough benders about, you see. The Fire Nation had already killed most of them in the Hundred Years War. So why bother building fancy and expensive gizmos to simulate drowning? Just knock a hole in the ice and shove the suspect in.” Korra took a fortifying swig of beer. “Leave them there, til they start to go under. Til they start to drown, because if they’re a bender they’ll save themselves, right? If they try and drag themselves out...” Korra wiggled her once-broken fingers again. “ _Crack_. The trick is managing to fish them out before they actually drown or the hypothermia kills them.”  
“That’s...that’s fucking awful.” It seemed an understatement but Asami was having problems processing everything.   
“Told you it wasn’t a happy story,” Korra shrugged.  
“I shouldn’t have...”  
“If I didn’t want to tell you I wouldn’t have told you, ok?” Korra reassured her. “I’m over it. Well, mainly. Got a gutful of simmering resentment to any idiot that tries to downplay what they did, which is why I blow up in class sometimes. As I’m sure you’ve noticed.”  
“Just a tad.” Asami tried to joke, but it fell a little flat. “Fuck, if I’d gone through that I don’t think I’d ever even look at a bath again, never mind go swimming.”  
“Properly harnessed rage can work wonders,” Korra said, with a flash of her usual grin. “They took a lot from me. Fuck them taking anything more, you know?”  
Asami thought of endless hours of self-defence classes. Oh yes. She knew all too well.

The dinner bell rang and Asami got to her feet with scarcely a wince, offering Korra a hand up.

“How old were you?” Asami asked as she led Korra towards the dining room, not sure she wanted to know the answer.   
“The first time?” Korra thought. “must have been...oh, four, five? That’s when bending starts showing so...” she stopped because she’d walked into the back of Asami.  
“They did that to _kids_? Little toddlers?” she asked, appalled. “And wait, _first_ time?”  
“Yeah. Look, my dad wasn’t always well liked. He’s a Northern exile and there was enough tension there _before_ the Civil War. All that ‘you left us to die during the HYW’ stuff. So what’s the easiest way to get back at him, make him feel unwelcome?”  
“...nearly get his daughter killed?” Asami filled in. “Fucking hell, Kor, that’s...that’s _evil_.”  
“It is what it is. We moved out of town after the um...” she coughed. “th time put me in hospital with pneumonia. Less accusations out there. Lot more lonely, but less chance of dying.”  
“How many times?”  
“er...”  
“Korra.”  
“...six.” Korra said reluctantly. “Um. Dining room. This way?” She pointed. Asami nodded dumbly.

Asami was still slightly wide eyed as they took their seats.   
“Oh, see, this is why I don’t like talking about it,” Korra rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. “It’s not like it’s a big deal. Anymore,” she quickly amended. “Worse things happened in the war, and I’m alive, and I just...Look, now you get why I had such a visceral reaction to the idea of standing by and letting people drown, no matter how bloody stupid it was to jump off a damn _bridge_ into a murky river.”  
“Yeah,” Asami agreed weakly. “I mean, I’d just put it down to a cute if potentially troubling case of hero syndrome but...”  
“Ah, you think I’m cute!” Korra grinned. “No takebacks!”  
Asami rolled her eyes.

The mood lightened considerably throughout the meal, thankfully. Korra had a more than sneaking suspicion that Opal had been involved in the planning of the menu; either that or Asami was very, very good at guessing people’s favourite foods.

When they collapsed back onto the sofas, comfortably full, Asami leaned back into Korra’s lap without even thinking.   
“Are you laughing at me?” She asked, squinting suspiciously up at Korra’s smile. Korra shook her head.  
“Just thinking I’m not normally taller than you.”  
“Damn right you’re not. Shortarse.” Asami chuckled at the look of mock outrage on Korra’s face. “Hey. You know, it’s been like, a week, since the crash, right?”  
“Yeah...?”  
“And I’m off my painkillers? And my mind is crystal clear, no fuzziness whatsoever?”  
“Good to know.”  
“So there’s reason for you to feel guilty.”  
Korra frowned.  
“Guilty for what?”  
“This.” Asami pulled her down to kiss her. And this time Korra didn’t jump away.

It was with some regret Korra eventually had to break away to catch the last ferry home. If she hadn’t had things to take care of in the morning she would have taken the offer of a spare bed, and deal with Tenzin’s disapproval in the morning.

Korra was almost literally walking on air the whole way back to the dock.

 

She made it back to her room without running across Tenzin, shut the door, and nearly jumped out of her skin.   
“Fuck! Opal, what the hell?!”  
Opal just grinned.   
“So how’d it go?”  
Korra flopped down beside her.   
“You suck, you know that, right?” She tried to sound angry but it wasn’t working.   
“Yeah, yeah. I’m terrible, and you’re grinning like you tried to swallow a banana sideways so I don’t give a shit. Spill! I need details!”  
“Shouldn’t you be surreptitiously bonking in Bolin’s room right about now, rather than bothering me?”  
“Nah,” Opal shook her head. “I’ve been rooting for this for _months_ now.”  
“Weeks. At best,” Korra mock grumbled. Her phone buzzed and she couldn’t stop Opal reading the screen.  
“Ooh, girlfriend texting already? Leave your underwear at her place?”  
“You’re an asshole, you know that, right?” Korra opened the message. “And it’s one dinner, Opal, don’t go jumping the gun,” she added.  
_Hey, hope you got home safe. Had a great time tonight. X_.

“Oh she’s adorable,” Opal cooed, reading the message over Korra’s shoulder, and yelping in protest when Korra shoved her off the bed.  
_Yeah I’m back. Me too. X._ She hit send. Then she found her spine and sent a quick follow up text. _Pretty sure I still owe you that drink. Next week?_

The wait between messages might just have been the longest three minutes of Korra’s life.

_Sounds perfect._

 

Not even the early morning start the next day could dampen Korra’s spirits. Not until they were airborne at least, and gathering round the main table in the airship for Tenzin’s briefing. It was nothing new. More disappearances, in Omashu this time, though the rumour mill was starting to turn in every territory. Verifying them all was impossible. Korra looked over the profiles of the suspected missings, some corner of her mind still remembering how Asami’s lips felt on hers. Judging by the not-so-subtle cough from Bolin, and the way everyone was staring at her when she looked up, she hadn’t exactly been subtle about her distraction. Mako rolled his eyes, going back to his copies, underlining things in his two colour system that made perfect sense to him and him alone.   
“If we’re quite finished making doe eyes at the potentially dead people,” Tenzin announced, a touch testily, and Korra went red. She tried to stay on topic from then on. _Save the world now, think about the pretty girl later._

Omashu was easier than Ba Sing Se. They knew what they were looking for now, and it didn’t take more than a few hours of Bolin and Korra wearing out their shoes with surreptitious seismic stomps. More than one car alarm was accidentally tripped in the process, but they finally found a likely tunnel with easy enough sneaky access.

“You lot are painfully unprofessional,” Mako groused as they made their way along, Opal still needling Korra for details after she’d made the mistake of telling her that she wasn’t going to kiss and tell. Opal had of course jumped on the mention of kissing and was not about to drop the matter.  
“Well we _are_ unprofessional. By definition,” Korra replied. “Nobody pays us to save the world. Who would we even bill?”  
“We should work out who to bill.” Bolin added. “The ruined clothing alone is putting a serious dent in my loans.”  
There was a general murmur of agreement. Apparently getting phones fried by Equalist gloves voided warranty.

They found the fake bricked up partition, Bolin cracking his knuckles as he stepped up to it.   
“If you ladies and gents will just give me a moment,” he grinned. There was a pause as he strained and then went on in a defeated voice, “Korra, I think there’s metal in here, can you...?”  
Korra joined him at the brick face.   
“On three?” She asked, trying to get a feel on the target at hand. “Three...EVERYBODY DOWN!”

And the world exploded.

Korra tried to blink the world back into focus. Mako’s face was swimming above her. It took a moment to realise the weird whale noises were him. She raised a hand to her ringing ears and felt wetness. _Great._ She pointed at them then pivoted her hand, diver sign for ‘problem’. He looked, winced, and nodded. Korra forced herself into a sitting position, taking the offered water bottle. Having Ravaa take over entirely was exhausting and disorientating to say the least. It was like waking up after a night of heavy drinking and having to piece together events from three blurry photos, a club entry stamp, and the traffic cone that had probably magically appeared in the room you didn’t recognise, and it was only when you moved the sheets you found you’d bodily merged with the vengeful spirit of the ocean. Or maybe that was just Korra’s experience.

 Judging by the tunnel markers they were some fifty meters further up than where the booby trapped wall had been. Korra flinched at the high, angry pop as she resealed one of her popped eardrums.   
“Everyone ok?” She half shouted. There were three answering nods of varying enthusiasm. “What...”  
“You sort of channelled the blast,” Bolin explained. One of his eyes was badly bloodshot. “Made like...a... tornado cocoon. It was kind of like we surfed it down the tunnel. You know, if surfing happened on a wave of fire and bricks.” He gestured at the wreckage in their wake. “That was too close.”  
There was no disagreement there. Korra got to her feet, Mako catching her as she stumbled. Her sense of balance seriously off-kilter.   
“We need to get out of here before people start gawking,” she said, trying to sound like she didn’t want to just curl up in the rubble and take a nap. Opal heaved herself up. Her cheek was bleeding a little but she looked ok. They all did. They’d been lucky.   

Somehow, half deaf and slightly charred, they made it back to the airship. Korra set out trying to repair her ears, wincing as the flesh knitted back together. She felt rather than heard Tenzin’s approach and braced herself for the tirade. Instead a gentle hand squeezed her shoulder, and she looked up into a face that was not angry but concerned.    
“Are you alright?” He asked, over-enunciating a little.    
“We’ll be ok.” Korra gave him a very forced smile and he pulled her into a hug.   
“I heard the explosion from my meeting. I knew it had to be you lot. What happened?”  
“Booby trap.” Korra summarised. “Tenzin, I need to,” she gestured at her ears and he let her go so she could get on without it.

“The question,” Mako said a little while later, when the bleeding had been tended to and Korra could more or less hear again. “Is whether that was just a security feature we blundered into.”  
“What else could it have been?” Korra asked. Even with her eardrums reformed she was speaking a little too loudly and looked like she’d rather be curled up asleep.  
“I think it was targeted. I think we were targeted. Think about it. They recreated the situation at Ba Sing Se to a T. They know we were there. Then they set us up here.”  
“You think they’re onto us?” Opal asked. The idea was troubling in the extreme.  
“I think that might explain why we nearly became a veneer of pate on a tunnel wall, yes.”  
Tenzin stroked his beard.  
“This isn’t good.” He announced, in a prime example of understatement. “Did you have a chance to check the location for cameras? If they got a look...”  
Korra shook her head.  
“We did the usual sweep on the way in but on the way out I was mainly concerned with not getting everyone killed or arrested.”  
“A fair set of priorities.” Tenzin conceded. "So the Equalists may or may not know that we are on to them. If they do it means they know how we gather our intelligence on them and they might even know exactly who we are. And either way they want us dead."  
Korra mulled all this over before speaking for the group as a whole.  
"Fuck."

 

That night Korra sat out in the pagoda facing the city, trying to dull the ache in her ears. Tenzin had volunteered to inform the White Lotus guards, and deal with the inevitable demands to have Korra packed off in the light of their suspicions. She’d had to vacate the kitchen when the yelling had gotten too loud.

She didn’t even hear her phone the first few times. When she checked it to see the time she found a dozen messages, all from Asami, all increasingly worried variations on; _I heard about Omashu, are you ok???_

Korra smiled, grateful that Opal couldn't see. 

_I’m fine. Ringing ears, hence not replying, but otherwise I’m fine. I wasn’t too close to the blast._

The response was almost immediate.

_Oh thank fuck for that. Do they know what caused it?_

_No clue. I’m just glad nobody was hurt._

_Me too. Especially you. You really seem to attract trouble, don’t you?_

Korra winced as she heard Tenzin’s dull roar from the Temple. Forget murderous Equalists, she was probably in more danger from the guards sworn to protect her. Attract trouble? Asami had no idea how right she was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Romance! Humour! Drama! These are all things I should learn how to write!
> 
> Love it? Hate it? Please let me know! I'm spudking on tumblr too.


	14. Flashpoint

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra is struggling with the burden of being the Avatar, secrets are starting to be unearthed, and there are turtleducks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so, so sorry it took so long, but have an almost triple length chapter to make up for it.

Korra spent the next day off balance, staggering about like a drunken sailor while trying desperately to finish healing her ears. Even bending had limits and she’d never devoted that much time to understanding the delicate complexities of the inner ear to know exactly how to speed the recovery further. After watching her mistress bounce off yet another wall Naga went into protective mode, sticking at Korra’s side no matter how much Korra tried to persuade her to do otherwise and no matter how narrow the corridors were. Several acolytes had their doors dragged open by Naga’s passage down the hallway, but Korra paid no attention to the grumblings. Mainly because she couldn’t hear them.  Besides, thanks to the email she’d just received she had other things on her mind. 

“That is going to kill you, you know that, right? I mean, your heart will literally explode. And I do mean _literally_.”  
“I think you need to talk to your aunt about how the human body works,” Korra sniped back, not looking round at Jinora and focusing instead on icing the twelve cans of not-entirely-legal energy drink by the side of her desk. She didn’t keep it up for long. “Look, what do you want, Jinora? I need to get this bloody essay done.”  
“I want to know why the hell you’re doing the essay when you have a cast iron reason to be late. One that the uni is aware of so you don’t even have to lie this time!”  
“Because.” Korra answered shortly, trying not to bristle as Jinora stepped up to the desk, folding her arms with an expression that was entirely too reminiscent of Tenzin. “It’s not even that essay, ok?” she snapped, to Jinora’s surprise. _Great, now I’m getting a fucking headache as well_. Korra kneaded her forehead with a knuckle, trying to banish the ache. “It’s the one before that. And I’ve already missed one extension. I’ve got three bloody days to write it because this is the first night in weeks I’m not beat up or exhausted so, _please_ , either shut up and leave me alone, or become an expert on the Fire Nation-Earth Kingdom border dispute in the time of Avatar Kyoshi and do this piece of shit for me so I don’t fail my damn degree!” Korra’s voice had risen as the tirade went on without her meaning to and she swallowed, looking away from Jinora and back at the books on her desk.   
“...I think I’ll go,” Jinora said awkwardly, and beat a hasty retreat. Korra sighed. She cracked open the first can one handed and got to work.

When Jinora came back in the morning there was a cluster of empty cans in the general vicinity of the bin, a thick stack of badly scrawled notes that were slipping off the desk page by page, and Korra was asleep at the desk with her face on the keyboard. It appeared at first glance that she had written a staggering 147 pages, but going by what was currently flashing across the screen Jinora was pretty sure that most of those pages were just the letter j. At least she hadn’t drooled over the keys and shorted it out.

It was 148 pages before Jinora managed to wake her, peeling her face off the keyboard with a groan.

Asami had been a little worried when Korra hadn’t replied to a single one of her texts that morning, but when she slipped into the back of the lecture hall it was obvious why. Korra was asleep in her chair, head resting against Opal who gave her a bright smile and waved her over.   
“I didn’t know you were coming back today.”  
“I was going mad at home.” Asami admitted, dropping into a seat by Korra. “And I’ve got the all clear, so I figured I’d bite the bullet. Although I was hoping...” Asami stopped abruptly at Opal’s smirk. “Oh, shut up,” she grumbled.

Korra grunted in her sleep, shifting against Opal’s shoulder, forehead creasing slightly in discomfort, or at some unpleasant dream.

If they had been anywhere else Opal would have let her sleep, but the last thing Korra needed was having a full blown nightmare in the back of lecture theatre. Waking her however was harder than might have been first thought. Attempting to push her off of Opal’s shoulder just meant she sagged across the seat and flopped against Asami instead. Opal sniggered and took a picture before Asami could stop her.   
“This,” Opal declared, putting her phone away, “Is going to require drastic action.”   
Asami could only look on in horror as Opal methodically wet the tip of her finger and, without warning, stuck it in Korra’s ear. She woke with a yelp that had heads turning from four rows away.

Asami was surprised how well Korra held it together once she’d been woken. It might have just been because she knew if she fell asleep again she’d just get woken by Opal in the same way or worse.

With a surgically precise application of caffeine Korra made it through the day without tearing off anyone’s head or falling asleep. Or at least without snoring too noticeably when she did.

Korra got the message halfway through grabbing a much needed bite to eat. She read it under the table, nodding along to the conversation, and then handed it wordlessly over to Opal.

_I have information about the Sato factory fire. Scorpion frog, one hour. Come alone._

Opal passed Korra the phone back, her eyes not leaving Asami. She tapped two fingers against the table, almost absent-mindedly, and then clenched a fist. Two-zero. Twenty minutes to get to the Scorpion-Frog. Korra acknowledged it, trying to keep her annoyance in check. At least she still had forty minutes to pretend to be a normal person.

Forty minutes later Korra dropped into the passenger seat of Opal’s car. Lying to Asami had left a bad taste in her mouth, to the point she was pretty sure Asami had noticed her struggling to reciprocate the parting hug, but it couldn’t be helped.   
“You’ve got it _bad_ ,” Opal observed, but sympathetically. “Come on. Let’s go get you murdered by a randomer in an alley.”  
“’s a gang member,” Korra muttered, fastening her seat belt. The headache was back, and it wasn’t helping her mood one bit.   
“How do you know...”  
“’s my gang phone.”  
“...you have a gang phone?” Opal asked incredulously. Korra snorted.  
“Of course I’ve got a fucking gang phone, you think I give those guys my personal number?”  
“...Fair point,” Opal conceded, after a moment’s consideration of just how in the name of hellfire her life had reached the point where that was a legitimate issue. They drove in silence.

The Scorpion-Frog was a dive bar on the fringes of the Dragon Flats. It wasn’t gang turf in the strictest sense; none of the main four had laid a claim to it, but it had its own lovely class of patrons. For the last six months, by Korra’s count, they’d not bothered to replace the boarded-up windows. Korra checked her watch and sent a reply, telling the mystery messager she was there, although she neglected to mention Opal’s presence. The reply was nearly instant.  
_Meat me round back_  
Opal read it over her shoulder.   
“Is this ringing any alarm bells for you? Cos it’s ringing alarm bells for me.”  
“What, meeting an anonymous gang member alone behind the skeeviest bar I know? Nah. Totally on the up-and-up.” Korra pulled out her other phone. “I’m calling you, I’m putting it on speaker, and if you hear me say ‘adhesive tape’ you...”  
“Come running.” Opal finished. “Korra, I know the codes. Just, watch yourself, ok? You’re not exactly on top form right now.”

_If the other Avatars could see me now,_ Korra thought grimly, as she stepped into an alley that smelled of all the worst after effects of drinking. Cigarettes, stale beer, stale piss and puke. Not that fresher version of any of those would have been much of an improvement. Korra saw the figure lurking ahead, spectacularly unthreatening in the early afternoon sun. He was leaning against the wall and fumbling with a cigarette, but his shaking fingers were sending sparks everywhere but where he wanted them.   
“You called me?” Korra called out, and the man dropped the cigarette as he jumped. He was thin and greasy looking, and Korra wanted to gag as he picked up the cigarette from the filthy pavement and put it back in his mouth. “You said you had information. What is it? Why couldn’t you go through the usual channels without this cloak and dagger...oh for fuck’s sake,” Korra flicked a small flame out, lighting the cigarette for him. He took a steadying drag on it, eyes darting up and down the alleyway.   
“If the boys find out I’m talking to you, Glowstick...”  
“They won’t.”  
“The Boss didn’t want you involved. If Jian...” He swallowed, nearly inhaling the cigarette. _Jian. So, Agni Kai,_ Korra noted. She was not nearly as faux-amicable with Jian as she was with Shin. “He wants it handled in-house, but I knew if...if we...if you...”  
“Calm down, ok? They’re not going to find out. Just tell me what you know.”  
The man nodded miserably.

“The dead man. He’s one of ours. Hoshi Weng.”   
It was a good start. More than the police had at any rate. Korra nodded, knowing Opal would be writing it down in the car.  
“Ok. Do you how he ended up there?”  
The man shook his head.   
“He just vanished. He never made it back...he just went. They must have taken him. It’s been happening all over, they say.”  
“What makes you think it was him at the factory?”  
The Agni Kai snorted.  
“Firebender goes missing, and less than a day later a known Equalist’s factory goes up in smoke? You tell me.”  
Korra had to admit he had a point.

“Jian’s planning on doing something stupid, isn’t he?”  
The informer nodded, head bobbing on his skinny neck like a chicken.   
“He’s sniffing round for Equalists. If he finds them...well, they’re not going to need body bags. More like matchboxes.”  
“He knows if he goes on the warpath...”  
The man gave a strangled kind of laugh.   
“You’ll do what? Stop him? Fight him, the whole gang? For Equalist lives? You think that’ll go down well with anyone?”  
Korra swallowed. He flicked the spent cigarette butt across the alleyway and fumbled for another. “You have to get there first. It’s the only way this isn’t going to escalate. If you leave it up to Jian he’ll burn the city down to find them. He’ll expose us all.”

Opal was pulling away from the kerb even before Korra got the door shut.   
“So.” She said, after an uncomfortable silence. Korra just leaned back into the seat.  
“So,” she agreed. She rubbed her tired eyes. “Opal, I need a phone box. Somewhere nowhere near here and nowhere near the dock. This whole thing stinks like Meelo after beans and I don’t want any trail.”

 

Asami had been rather hoping to do something different with her evening, or at least have some company, but it couldn’t be helped.  With nothing better to do and nobody about to distract her she headed across town to Future Industries. The R&D department was always open to her, and she felt the need to tinker. Besides, it was good to be out the house. The crash was finally being forgotten about, pushed out of the public consciousness by someone attempting to egg Raiko at a boring speech.

It was pure coincidence Asami turned her head when she did. A few seconds sooner or later and she wouldn’t have seen the figure that looked entirely too like Korra stumble out of a phone box down the street and step into a waiting car that looked an awful lot like Opal’s, and then speed away.

 

The world was getting blurry by the time Korra got back to the island. Curling up in the little hut by the dock seemed awfully tempting, but somehow she forced herself to get to her room and collapse onto the bed. She almost drifted off, before she clocked that her phone, her personal phone, was buzzing. She pulled it out.

Asami regretted the text the second she’d sent it. “ _Just checking you didn’t fall overboard”_? _Really?_ She berated herself. _Subtle. Oh hells, do **not** make drowning jokes at the person who confided in you that they have drowning-related trauma, dumbass! _ She nearly dropped the phone when the reply came through. No words, just a very badly taken photo of Korra facedown in her bed with her non-phone hand giving an ok sign. Asami let out a slow breath. _See? You were just imagining things. Cut down on the coffee, you’re getting paranoid._  She sent a quick message back, apologising for interrupting the clearly much needed nap, put her phone to one side and tried to focus on the blueprints in front of her. She would have preferred to be in the old workshop across town rather than this rather smaller one in the Future Industries tower proper, but it couldn’t be helped. Things had had to be shuffled about with the factory as a burnt out shell.

Korra woke from a less than pleasant dream to the sound of knocking and realised that her brief nap had just cost her three hours she could not afford. She hurried to the door, finding Jinora stood there with a dinner tray.   
“We saved you dinner. Oh, and I did what you asked,” she said, entering without waiting for Korra to say anything and setting the tray down on the desk.   
“You...what?”  
Korra’s brain hadn’t quite made it back to full wakefulness just yet.  
“You said either become an expert on the topic or leave you in peace. So,” Jinora shoved a thick wodge of paper at Korra who took it blankly. “Your essay. I made a few annotations on what you did last night, with Dad’s help, don’t worry, and I’ve put all the references down.” Korra looked down at the pages in her hand. _A few annotations?_ They were festooned with colour. “Should be easy enough to type in an hour or so, and then you can just submit it and stop worrying.”  
Korra just gaped. Jinora looked away self consciously. “Ok, ok, I shouldn’t have done that, you don’t have to use it, sorry, I’ll just go...”  
She tried to dodge past Korra, blushing furiously, but Korra caught her in a hug.  
“You are a lifesaver, you know that? Totally my favourite, don’t tell the others.”  
Korra told each of the kids that at least twice a week, but it still made Jinora smile.  
“Just don’t expect me to be able to do this every time.”

Two hours later Korra was the proud owner of an essay that might even net her a decent grade and had plans confirmed with Asami for the weekend. If it hadn’t been for the case of Hoshi Weng looming over her she might almost have felt relaxed. Still, there was something in the kitchen cupboard that could help with that. She might even get a full night’s sleep for once, without the dreams.   


The day actually went well. Korra managed to go a whole seminar without losing her cool, which Opal suspected might have had something to do with Asami holding her hand under the table. The lingering kiss goodbye didn’t hurt either. The war council in the evening however did knock the shine off matters somewhat. Firstly Lin had to confirm that yes, dental records had positively identified the crispy critter from the Sato fire as Hoshi Weng, known triad member. Lin was doing her best to keep a lid on it, making the not fake at all excuse of trying to prevent gang violence, but it was only a matter of time before it got leaked and the Agni Kai’s knew for certain that their man was dead.  And then, just to add to the irritation, they had to change over all the code words. Given the near catastrophe in Omashu it made sense to switch things up, though they still hadn’t identified the source of the tainted information, but memorising a whole new list of coded phrases always gave Korra a headache. Still, it had to be done, and the whole thing was made a little more entertaining by the glares Jinora kept throwing her. Jinora wheedled her way into the meeting by playing on her recent essay based heroics for Korra and was now really wishing she’d saved that favour for something more spectacular.

Korra escaped to the pagoda after the meeting, hoping the cool sea breeze would do something for the nagging headache. She leaned against the rail, watching the lights of Republic City in the early dusk.

“Feels like thunderstorms, doesn’t it?”   
Korra jumped at Kya’s voice. She hadn’t heard her approach. “Whoa, easy there.” She set down the tea tray she’d been carrying, giving Korra a searching look. Korra couldn’t help but try to avoid meeting her gaze. “You ok? And I’m asking that to be polite, because you’re clearly not.”  
“It’s just a headache,” Korra rolled her head from shoulder to shoulder, causing a series of clicks and cracks as vertebrae popped. Kya raised a hand in an offer of help, and Korra couldn’t conceal the flinch.   
“Ah.”  
“Yeah.” Korra forced a grin. “There’s nothing wrong, it’s just me being crazy.”  
“Psychosomatic pain is not the same as making it up, how many times have I got to tell you that?” Kya sighed. “Come on, sit down.”  
Korra did so, and Kya passed her the earthenware teapot. “Now heat that up for us, will you?”  
Korra lifted the lid and took a sniff.  
“You knew?”  
Kya shrugged.  
“I’m good at what I do, and you’re less subtle than you think. You’re not the only person Amon hurt, Korra. You’re not the only one that gets those headaches every time the barometer changes.”  
Korra passed back the now steaming teapot, a little shamefaced. Kya poured two cups, handing one to Korra.   
“You need to look after yourself, kid. Don’t be afraid to put yourself first every once in a while, ok? There’s been a lot of Avatars, there’ll be a load more. There’s only one you.”  
“I don’t think the planet could take another,” Korra joked as they clinked teacups.

“Do you think...” Korra started, and then stopped. She set down the long-empty cup, staring out across the harbour at the statue of Aang. “He’d have fixed it all by now, wouldn’t he?”  
“You mean Dad?” She looked over at the stone likeness. “You think so?”  
“He learned it all, and took down Ozai in a _year_. A year. I couldn’t even...” Korra waved a hand distractedly. “He left Ozai alive. Look at my track record.”  
“Dad’s hands weren’t clean.” Kya said, a little sharply, and Korra looked up surprised. “And the equalists started on his watch, not yours. You’re carrying enough, kid,” Kya leaned back against the railings. “No need to make any more for yourself, ok? You’ve helped overturn Equalist dictatorships in every nation, _and_ stopped the world ending. And you’ll be the first Avatar with a degree...”  
“That Jinora is getting for me,” Korra muttered. Kya gave her a look and continued,  
“So quit beating yourself up. Got enough people doing that already.”   
Kya refilled the empty cup, nudging it back across to Korra. “Look, we might not have things perfect right now, but there’s no testings. No drownings. No having to milk sea scorpions for suppressants. You’re doing great.”

Eventually the tea ran out. A while after that the pair made their way, somewhat unsteadily, back to their respective rooms. Korra flopped onto Naga, the polar bear dog only letting out a faint huff of disapproval as Korra stroked down her flank, face buried in fur.  
“You’re so _fluffy_ ,” Korra said, in a tone of wonder that was somewhat muffled by the mouthful of dog hair. Naga knew the tone, and settled down for an evening of being petted. She didn’t mind one bit. When the stroking finally stopped she shuffled awkwardly over to the bed and, with a practiced roll, tipped Korra on to the mattress.

 

Asami scanned the park. It was fairly busy, hardly surprising on a fine day like today, but it didn’t take her too long to spot Korra, sat near the edge of the large pond that ran through most of the park. There was someone with her, but he left as she drew closer leaving Korra alone on her bench. Or not, Asami realised, as she drew closer. There was a small group of turtleducks clustered around Korra’s feet, pecking at some crumbs. Asami stopped short. Korra was wearing a long sleeved flannel undone over a tank top, but she’d rolled her sleeves up to her elbows, hair loose, in jeans and biker boots. And she was feeding turtle ducks.

“Well hi there,” Asami called, and Korra jumped. “Just checking. You are the same woman I saw take on a whole triad bar with just one person for backup, right?” She perched on the arm of the bench as Korra blushed. “So is it badass with a side of adorable, or adorable with a side of badass?”   
Korra gave her a self-conscious shrug.  
“I’ll let you decide that, shall I?”

They sat there, watching the turtle ducks until they waddled back into the pond. It was a nice spot, far enough away from the playground that the shrieks of the children were barely audible, far enough from the road not to hear the noise of the traffic, and with a good view across the bay. Asami voiced her approval, and Korra smiled.   
“This place was the first place I went when I got here. I’d never seen so much green in my whole life.” Korra gave a little self depreciating snort. “I got arrested about half an hour later.”  
“You’re kidding me, right?”  
Korra shook her head. “Tenzin bailed me out. Lin still likes to remind me from time to time.”

Korra couldn’t remember a day she’d felt as unburdened. As free. They wandered the park for a while, enjoying the sunshine, until Korra’s rumbling stomach sent them in search of sustenance. Asami took them to a little cafe not far from the park, and Korra was happy to be led, Asami’s smile giving her butterflies.

They didn’t notice the weather starting to change on them as they neared Harmony Tower, not until the heavens opened, sending them both running, laughing, for the shelter of a nearby awning. Korra shook her head like a wet dog, sending droplets everywhere and Asami yelped and threatened to shove her back into the rain. Korra just laughed and wrapped her in a soggy bearhug.   
“Do we wait for it to stop?”  
Asami shook her head.   
“I’ll call us a taxi. But you’re coming back with me, there’s no way you should be out on a boat in this.”  
“Bossy.”   
Asami arched one immaculate eyebrow. Korra grinned. “What? I didn’t say I didn’t like bossy.”  

Asami made the call. Korra leaned back against the shop shutters, watching the rain ricochet off the paving stones.   
“I sure know how to show someone a good time, huh?” She said ruefully.  
“Oh, I don’t know.” Asami pulled her close again. “I can think of worse people to be marooned in doorways with.”

The taxi, when it finally arrived, had to honk twice to get their attention. They broke apart, using Korra’s already sodden overshirt as the world’s worst umbrella as they hurried to the car, Korra opening the door and having to all but push Asami in before they got any more soaked debating who was getting in the dry first.  

  _It’s too soon to be feeling like this_ , Asami thought, as she waited for Korra to come back from getting changed into dry clothes, but she didn’t care. Maybe starting off with lifesaving changed the dynamic, but she’d never felt so comfortable, so fast. The bathroom door opened and Asami swallowed. _And then there’s that._ It wasn’t her fault. Really. Korra might have been shorter than her but she was broader. It wasn’t like the clothes were going to be a perfect fit. There were plenty of smaller shirts Asami could have given her if it had been her intention to put Korra in something that was, not to put too fine a point on it, skin tight. Asami sat up a little straighter on her bed. _Damn._ Korra shuffled in, towel round her neck, hair still damp, overly long tracksuit bottoms dragging a little where they pooled on her feet.  
“What?” Korra asked, a little self consciously, clearly misinterpreting Asami’s expression. “Some of us get wet and look like drowned spiderrats, we can’t all be,” she waved a hand in Asami’s direction, “that.”  
“From where I’m sitting you’re _definitely_ ‘that’.”  
“Maybe you still have that concussion,” Korra joked, taking the towel from around her neck to give another vigorous if ineffectual bout of drying, leaving her looking a little more windswept than before. “Sozin’s scrote, I swear, I had a whole plan, it was going to be great and then...”  
“We ended up all wet in my bedroom?” Asami cut in, and Korra nearly choked. “Sorry, couldn’t help myself.” She reached out and grabbed the towel, pulling Korra ever so gently toward her. “I liked today,” she reassured her. “And I like this. And I like you. So quit worrying, ok?”  
“Yes boss,” Korra joked and Asami rolled her eyes, and pulled her down onto the bed.

 

Asami woke with a start because Korra’s elbow had collided with her still tender ribs. She sat up, edging a little away from the fitful sleeper.

In truth she was surprised Korra had stayed in the same bed as her. Things had hit a slight rocky patch earlier when Asami, getting a little carried away, had moved to take off Korra’s shirt. For half a second Korra had been with it, guiding Asami to it, and then it was like a shutter had slammed down in Korra’s head. It had called a rather abrupt halt to proceedings, and for all of Korra’s fervent reassurances that no, Asami hadn’t overstepped, Asami was less than convinced. Anything that garnered that sort of reaction _had_ to have been an overstep.

Korra twisted in her sleep, rolled back the other way, and rolled clear off the bed, dragging the covers with her. There was a thump, a curse that Asami didn’t understand, and then Korra’s head appeared over the mattress.   
“I seem to have run out of bed.”

She made it to her feet, throwing the duvet at Asami and dropping back onto the bed.   
“Didn’t wake you, did I?” she asked belatedly, and Asami shook her head.  
“Are you ok? You seemed a bit...”  
Korra’s face fell, if only for a moment.   
“It’s nothing. Just a stupid dream.”  
“It wasn’t...” Asami left the rest of the question unsaid. Korra frowned, confused, and then the penny dropped.  
“No! Hell no! No, Asami. Bloody hell, look, I thought I was up for it, I realised I wasn’t, and as soon as I realised that you could not have backed off faster if I told you I had rabies.”  
“I just...I don’t want you to feel...unsafe.”  
Korra smiled. “Asami, there’s only one time I’ve felt unsafe around you and we were at the bottom of a river.”  
Asami laughed at that.   
“I’m going to splash some water on my face, don’t let me keep you up,” Korra announced, getting up a little more gracefully this time.

Korra made sure the door was locked before she flicked on the light, trying to forget the nightmare. Tried to forget looking up at the ice closing over her and seeing the figure taking off their mask to reveal Asami’s face. She peeled off her shirt and stared at the reflection in the mirror, taking in all the scrapes and grazes and greeny-yellow bruises that hadn’t healed from the Omashu bomb blast, all the scars she’d forgotten the excuses for. Korra leaned heavily against the sink, trying to shake off the echoes of the dream. She could still hear the crackle of the gloves, feel the cold.   
“It’s just a stupid anxiety dream,” she told her reflection sternly, keeping her voice low to make sure Asami couldn’t hear her. “You don’t get visions anymore, remember? You lost that. When you fucking lost...Fuck’s sake! Shape the fuck _up_ , before you lose the best thing that’s happened to you in months.”

It was a long time before either Asami or Korra got back to sleep.  

 

It wouldn’t have been quite accurate to say things were strained at breakfast. There was a slightly different feel to it than there had been the previous day but none of the warmth was lost. It was just a little more careful, until Korra caught Asami by the arm.  
“I’m not glass, Asami. You don’t have to worry you’re going I’m going to break when you touch me.”  
“I...”   
There was no point denying it.   
“Look,” Korra hesitated for a moment and then went for it. “Asami. I’m not going to lie. There’s some shit going on right now. My head’s a little more crowded than I’d like it to be. That’s not on you. And once...” she licked her lips. “Once I’ve got this mess sorted enough for me to really know where I stand, well...if you haven’t kicked me to the kerb by then...well I’m really stuffing this up, aren’t i? Hokie-dokie. Um.  I like you. A lot. And, despite my stupid little freak out last night _that was nothing to do with you_ , I would very much like this not to be an awkward ending to us.”  
“I’d like that too.”  
“Fantastic, because you look so damn _cute_ with bedhead and no makeup and I _really_ would like to kiss you right about now.”  
Asami was more than happy to oblige.

 

Korra took time to re-centre herself when she got back to the island, making a rare appearance at Tenzin’s meditation session with the acolytes, before taking Naga for a run.

Korra had almost finished brushing Naga down when her phone started ringing. She answered.  
“Opal, I swear, if you’re after details from last night...”  
“The Dragon Flats are on fire.”  
Korra’s stomach lurched.   
_Jian._

It had to be the Agni Kais. The Dragon Flats borough had always been a non bender area, even before the purges. Some of the staunchest Equalists had grown up in the borough, the anti-bender sentiment festering like damp rot. And now it was ablaze.

Opal was waiting at the dock, Bolin in the car beside her. Korra leapt into the back seat, no time for arguments, and they sped off towards the smoke.

The Dragon Flats borough in its entirety was not, as it turned out, on fire. The eponymous Dragon Flats, the towering block of apartments, was very much on fire. The roads around were closed off with barricades and emergency vehicles and crowds of panicking locals. Opal pulled over, not caring about the double yellows.   
“Fucking hell,” she looked up at the inferno. Smoke was billowing from the windows, flames licking up the walls. “Korra, what the fuck are we going to do?...Korra?”  
Korra was staring up at the building. She gave no sign she had heard Opal. Bolin bumped his shoulder gently against hers and she unfroze, standing a little taller.   
“We do what we can.”

Mako met them at the cordon, leading them through to the temporary HQ that had already been set up. Lin gave them a brusque nod as they entered, stepping away from a firefighter in a white helmet.   
“Chief,” Korra returned the nod. “And...Chief, I’m guessing?”  
The man nodded. He was about Lin’s age, well built, clearly Fire Nation.   
“And you are?” he asked, looking distinctly unimpressed with the quartet that had entered.   
Korra looked at Lin. She gave another nod.   
“Auxiliary Voluntary fire Krew.” Korra lied seamlessly.   
“We don’t...” The fire chief stopped. He looked them over again, more closely this time, and looked back at Beifong’s poker face. “Ah.” He extended his hand. “Chief Kuzon. Glad to finally meet you, I’ve heard only good things.”  
Korra took the unnaturally warm hand, sending back a pulse of cold. No need for elaborate secret handshakes there. The man smiled. “Any help you can give us would be appreciated.”  
“It’s what we do. Can you give us a sit rep?”

It wasn’t good. The Dragon Flats were old, built quick and cheap back at the establishment of Republic City, when it was assumed that benders would have been on hand to tackle any serious emergencies. Why bother to build complex piping systems to allow firefighters to hook up their hoses inside the building when there would be waterbenders on the street who could do it just as easily? A fine plan, until you kill, depower or exile everyone capable of such a feat and then never take steps to correct matters. Korra took a moment to curse Amon and every Equalist, before coming back into the present to hear the situation. It was pretty dire. They’d evacuated as much of the tower as they could but the fire was in the stairwells and they were having trouble getting to the higher floors.   
“Forget the building,” Kuzon told them. “We can’t save it. We’re just on damage limitation at this point; contain the blaze, get as many out as we can. And we’re running out of time.”  
“Then let’s get to work. You got any spare gear? We’re good, but we’re not quite fireproof.”

Five minutes later Korra could practically hear the dramatic theme music in her head as they stepped out of the mobile HQ, fully suited and booted in surplus fire kit. Bolin had found an axe and had it over his shoulder. They headed straight for the entrance to the Dragon Flats.  
“Opal, you’re on backdraft control and victims. Mako, fire. Obviously. Bolin, find the trapped people, I know you’ve got the seismic stomp down. Make holes, smash down doors, stop the ceiling falling in. Get them out. Got it?”  
There were a chorus of affirmatives as they secured their masks, heading into the smoke. Korra headed for the bank of lifts and Mako cleared his throat uncomfortably.  
“You know they won’t be on, right? Lifts not good in fire, yeah?”  
Korra gave him a look, and bent the doors open.  
“Those rules are for normal people.”

They could feel the heat like a physical presence as they neared the blaze. Korra stopped the lift.  
“Go time guys. Stay on the radio, I’ll see you at the finish.”  
Bolin stopped, half out the lift.  
“You’re not coming?”  
Korra shook her head.  
“Someone has to keep this building from coming down until you get them out.”  
“Korra...” Mako began, but Korra was already shutting the doors. The trio exchanged a worried glance, suddenly bereft of their leader. “Even she can’t hold this indefinitely.”   
Bolin hefted the axe.   
“Then let’s get this done _fast_.”

Even with the protective gear Korra could feel the heat as she stumbled out into the smoke filled corridor. This was the flashpoint, Kuzon had told her. Korra stumbled blindly down the hallway, sending out a cautious shockwave. Nobody on this floor. Nobody alive, at any rate. The corridor was full of debris; probably junk Agni Kai’s had brought up to fuel the fire. She found her way to the inner core of the building, tripping over a blown gas tank, feeling for the weakening steel structure. _Ok. I’ve got this. It’s holding._ Korra really, really wished she didn’t know that the building as a whole weighed in at an excess of fifty thousand tonnes. She could brace the structure for a while, channel off the heat that threatened to buckle it, but she wasn’t fooling anyone. If this started to go then even with Ravaa’s power she would be hard pushed to hold it up for more than a moment.

Even someone praying for rescue by any means possible would have been a little taken aback to have it come in the form of Bolin in full firefighter gear bursting through the wall from the apartment next door, waving an axe. After the shock wore off, and the bubble of clear, cool air enveloped them, the fire drawing away, they were happy to fall into step behind the Krew. Or at least into crawl. To say the first group of genuine firefighters to battle their way up the flaming stairs were surprised to be greeted by three of their own and a gaggle of terrified residents already heading down towards safety was an understatement, but neither party was going to complain.  

“Chief!”   
A sooty fireman entered the mobile HQ. “What the hell is going on, chief? You’ve got some crazy bastards at least two floors ahead of the pack, they’re going to get themselves killed!”  
Kuzon looked to Beifong and she held up her hands.   
“Oh no. This is your problem.”  
Kuzon rose to the challenge.  
“Bunch of bloody hotheads,” He announced, almost theatrically. “If they get through this they’re going to be suspended for putting themselves at risk but we can’t spare the manpower to drag them back. Let them do it, and send them to me when we’re done.”  
The man nodded.  
“How are we doing?”  
“We’re clear up to eighteen, the advance party have made it to twenty and they’re sending people down but the heat and the smoke...” he sighed. “it’s mainly bodies, chief. And it’s only getting worse the higher we climb. I don’t know how much longer that building is going to stay up.”  
Kuzon hesitated.  
“Give it a little more time.” He decided. “Then pull them out. The crazies too. We’re not losing any of our people today.”

The man left. Kuzon leaned against the table.   
“Beifong, your kids better know what they’re doing.”  
Lin risked a companionable shoulder pat.  
“Oh they do. You ever tell them I told you this and I _will_ make you suffer,” she warned, and Kuzon saw no reason to doubt her, “If I was in a hole, if I was in danger, and you offered me my entire force, or those four kids? I’d take the kids. Every damn time.”  
“She’s the one, isn’t she?”  
Lin didn’t respond. Kuzon hadn’t expected her to, but the silence was enough. Kuzon gave a low whistle. “What the hell do you get involved in, Beifong?”

Korra wasn’t sure if it was the smoke or if black spots really were shimmering across her vision. Every muscle, every cell was screaming with the effort, pulling up the heat, the smoke, giving those below a fighting chance.   
_“Korra?”_ Came the radio. _“Korra, check in dammit!”_  
“I’m here.” She was feeling way too lightheaded. She fumbled for the gauge on her air tank.  
_“Korra, we’re pulling out.”_  
“Honestly, Mako, you know that method is highly unreliable.” The luminous dial was just visible in the smoke. _Fuck_.  
There was a staticky sigh over the radio.   
“ _Get out, Kor. Now.”_

Bolin had a child under each arm as they ran for the staircase, Mako carrying the mother over his shoulders. They’d made it to the main bunch of firefighters, making a quick but ordered escape down the stairs.  
“Korra?” Opal checked the radio. No response. “Should we...”  
The hallway ceiling came down in a cascade of burning plastic, concrete and plaster. Something else landed heavily atop the pile, and was promptly showered with more crap. A ruptured gas tank hit her in the midsection, folding her up almost comically, except she just flopped back onto the pile. Opal hurried over, pulling debris off an unmoving Korra.   
“Hey!” Mako yelled, jerking his head towards Korra, and several more firefighters hurried over to help. They took Korra, one under each armpit, carrying her with them down the stairs.

By the time the second waterbottle had been tipped down the back of her neck Korra was awake enough to complain about it, to the relief of all present. She’d cracked her helmet in the fall, leaving her with a nice cut above her eye, but it was hardly the worst injury she’d had in the last month. Mako left her with the paramedics, joining Lin back at the mobile command centre.   
“All present and correct, Chief. Chiefs.” He announced, and he could have sworn he saw a flicker of relief pass over Lin’s scowl. “Right.” He yawned. “I suppose now we get to catching the bastards responsible?”  
“Got it in one, kid. Knew I made you detective for a reason.”

Korra kept her head down. She didn’t need the cameras catching her, though thankfully this ambulance was on the fringes away from the crowd.   
“Ow.” She said pointedly, trying not to glare at the paramedic. “I told you, I don’t need an IV.”  
“Better safe than sorry,” the paramedic said, not sounding overly apologetic. Korra rolled her eyes, digging her phone out of her inside pocket. It was warped from the heat but it was still working. She wrote a quick message, first to her parents, and then to Asami.

“Someone took the tapes?” Mako frowned, and Lin nodded.   
“We’re going to have a hell of a time finding them now. Fire doesn’t exactly leave much in the way of evidence. Just have to drag every Agni Kai down to the station and see which ones smell smokey.” Lin’s scowl deepened. Mako went still. Lin knew the look. She could almost see the gears turning in his head.

Bolin and Opal had shed their disguises and made it outside the barricade, still smelling strongly of smoke.   
“Should we wait for the others?” Bolin asked, flopping across the entire backseat.  
“I guess.” Opal crawled in with him, resting her head on his chest. “Damn. I am _beat_.”  
“Me too. But we did good today, didn’t we?”  
“Yup,” Opal yawned. “We did really good.”

“Gas tank.” He muttered, looking intently into the middle distance for something only he could see. Lin waited, knowing that an interruption could send the train of thought veering off the rails. “Chief, why would a firebender use a gas tank?”  
“You’re asking me to make sense of the Agni Kais?” Lin asked, unamused. Mako shook his head.   
“It doesn’t make sense. _This_ doesn’t make sense, not even gang sense.”

Korra was beginning to think that maybe the paramedic had been right after all. Her head was starting to spin, either from exhaustion or from falling through twelve floors. It hadn’t been the greatest exit strategy; she was willing to admit that much. She’d slowed herself down but it had still hurt. The paramedic must have noticed, because she was being lifted inside the ambulance. _Oh, Kya’s going to kill me for this one._

Mako ran his hand through his sweaty hair, pulling it back into its usual spikes. “Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit!” He turned to the Chief, eyes wild. “Did we ever find out which officer took the tapes after the bus crash?”  
“No...”  
“ _Fuck._ Chief. Look at it. Inexplicable accident that isn’t an accident. Missing tapes. Two situations where benders are more likely to be present; after a trip to the memorial to the Equalist’s victims and a grand-scale disaster. _Everyone_ suspects the emergency services are still full of benders. I mean, they’re not wrong!”  
The penny dropped with a sickening clang.  
“You think it’s a trap?”  
Mako was already out the door, yelling for Bolin.

 It took Bolin a moment to catch on to what Mako was saying, but once he did he went white.  
“Equalists. You’re saying Equalists started the blaze?”  
Mako nodded grimly. “Wouldn’t be too hard. It’s an old building, everyone knows it. Then all they have to do is watch the tapes, maybe have a man inside, and bam. They’ve got us. It’s like the bomb in Omashu.”  
“People died. People fucking _burned_...”   
“Collateral. You know what they’re like,” Mako spat.   
“Well it didn’t work, did it?” Opal said smugly. “We got almost everyone out and they didn’t get anywhere near...”  
They all realised it at the same moment.   
“ _Korra!”_

Korra’s head was really aching now, and there was a foul chemical taste in her mouth.  
“It’s amazing,” said the paramedic, in an oddly flat voice. “What you did in there.”  
“Oh, you know,” Korra shrugged in false modesty. “I do what I can.”  
“I imagine you do.” He said, retrieving something from his bag. Korra tried to focus on it, but her vision was blurring again. She didn’t recognise the electric baton until it was too late.

“The ambulance was right...” Opal skidded to a halt. “Oh no. No, no, no.”  
“Maybe they just took her to the hospital?” Bolin suggested hopefully, but even he didn’t seem to believe it. “Mako, you’re a cop. You can track her, right? With her phone?”  
Mako was kneeling where the ambulance had been. He stood, wordlessly holding out the smashed remains of Korra’s phone.  
“Oh _fuck_.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um...please don't kill me?
> 
> I am so sorry it took so long. Everything got really busy and then everything went to shit and I really lost my mojo for a while. Hopefully this chapter marks its eagerly anticipated return. 
> 
> Come yell at me on tumblr too, if you like! I'm spudking over there as well.


	15. Outsider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow. It's been so long and you probably all forgot this and/or hate me. Um. Surprise! We're back! We're back, and everyone needs a hug. Especially Asami. And I probably massively misrepresent how companies work for the sake of the plot.

 

 

At first Asami had been calm and unconcerned. After a few hours she’d gotten a little annoyed. It wasn’t until it had been nearly two full days that she let herself admit she was starting to really worry. Korra could be a bit haphazard when it came to responding to messages, even when they were mid conversation as they’d been the previous day, but the longer it went the more worried Asami got. Something just felt really off about it, especially when she failed to materialise in class. At first Asami had managed to convince herself that she was worrying about nothing, trying to bury her nerves in a report from Future Industries. The problem was that she knew that she wasn’t worrying about nothing. Korra, wonderful as she was, had a temper, fought with gangsters, and then there were the quieter issues. The perpetual exhaustion, the low moods that she tried to hide. There was plenty to worry about. If Korra had lived anywhere more accessible Asami could have found an excuse to swing past and check in, but as it was she didn’t have many options. She picked up the phone again, the one she’d double checked was functional at the twenty four hour mark, and scrolled through her contacts until she found Opal.

Opal had to step out before she broke some very important Airbender laws about hospitality and non-violence by punching one of the White Lotus. Korra had been missing now for two days and they seemed more interested in blathering about how they’d never wanted Korra in the city than trying to track her down. There was too much yelling as it was, panic and worry and disagreement over how best to go about the search but Opal could have coped with that. It was the way the Order was more concerned with shifting blame than finding their missing Avatar.

The one comfort right now was that they knew Korra was still alive. An Avatar’s passing sent out ripples through the human and spirit world that would have been impossible to miss, especially with Jinora spending every waking moment searching for even a hint of Korra’s spiritual presence. So far she’d had no luck, and none of the explanations for why that might be were reassuring.  The best of them was that Korra was just out of spiritual range, and if that was the case than Korra could be pretty much anywhere in the world by now. Opal was trying not to remember some of the equalist strongholds they’d overturned in the years following Amon’s downfall. _She’s not dead_ , Opal reminded herself, taking a seat on the temple steps, leaning back against the stone. _She’s tough. We’ll find her, and she’ll be fine. She’ll be ok._

Opal’s eyes were too watery to make out the name on the screen but she recognised Asami’s voice at once. She sounded nervous, and it took a little while for her to get to the point.   
“I know I might be overstepping, and maybe I’m just being weird, but well...with everything Korra...do you know if she’s ok? She dropped out mid conversation the other day and normally I’d have heard at least...I’m probably being ridiculous I know, it’s just...” She sighed. “Is Korra ok?”  
Opal’s mouth felt very dry. They had an excuse worked out. An alibi that was enough for the police to be mildly involved in the search without tipping their hand completely, for anyone that needed to know. It was all lined up and practised in her head. Korra might be a little unhappy with a few of the details but that was a small issue compared with actually getting her back.  
“Opal?” Asami prompted, a slight waver in her voice. “Is Korra alright?”  
Opal opened her mouth, readied the lie, and just swallowed hard.   
“I don’t know.”  
There was an indistinct noise on the line.  
“And I suppose...if I asked you where she was...?”  
Opal didn’t say anything. What was there to say?  
“...oh.”  
“She’s done this...” The words stuck in Opal’s throat because that just wasn’t fair, this wasn’t something Korra _did_ , this was something that they had done _to_ her, and she rephrased. “This has happened to her before. Look this isn’t...You couldn’t have stopped this happening, ok? And she’s got all the right people looking for her. It’s going to be ok.”  
The words sounded hollow, even to Opal. It was hard to convince someone else and yourself at the same time. The silence hung between them.   
“Are...are you ok?” Asami asked at last, and Opal didn’t know how to reply.  
“I’m still standing,” She offered. “I think that’s about as good as it’ll get until Korra comes home.” Opal tried to make it sound like the return was a certainty and not a fervent hope. She spotted Bolin stepping out of the temple and gestured that she’d be up in a minute. “Asami, I’m sorry but I’ve got to go. If you, um, if you hear anything, if you see anything...”  
“Is she in trouble, Opal? With the gangs? The police?”  
_I wish it were that simple_.   
“No, she’s not. Look, even if you think it’s nothing. Let me know, or let my aunt know.”  
“Of course.”  
“See you around, Asami.”   
She hung up, getting heavily to her feet and half walked, half stumbled into Bolin’s arms, tucking her head under his chin. He didn’t say anything. There wasn’t anything new he could say.

Asami set the phone down on her desk. It hadn’t been the reassurance she’d been hoping for. In fact it had been the exact opposite. The lack of explanation was a glaring omission on Opal’s part but Asami hadn’t dared push. She wasn’t sure if that was because she was worried about upsetting Opal, or whether she’d been protecting herself. But Opal had admitted this had happened before. Asami tried to imagine what the hell could lead to Korra just bailing out and severing all communication. It couldn’t be anything good. If it had been then Opal wouldn’t have been worrying, wouldn’t have been scared.

Work. That’s what she needed. Something to distract her, the more mind-numbing the better. Anything that stopped her thinking about Korra out there, somewhere, all on her own. She pulled the report back towards her and reopened the file on her laptop, and tried to get to the bottom of the an inquiry that had been sent to her from an old business acquaintance out in the Earth Kingdom, asking why there’d been a shortage in production in Republic City and offering a competitive loaner deal on some of his underused factories. It was very kind, very generous, and a complete mystery to Asami because the last she knew the drop in production after the fire had been minimal.

The sun had long since set by the time Asami swallowed the last unpleasantly cool dregs of coffee. What had seemed like a simple case of confused good will had taken a turn for the alarming. A quick check over the figures hadn’t revealed anything untoward but something hadn’t felt right. After clawing through a veritable mountain of paperwork, both digital and physical, she’d finally tracked down the source of the problem. And it was a big, big problem. There was a massive discrepancy in their production efforts. The old R&D factory that had been repurposed after the fire was producing far below capacity and somebody had fudged the figures to try and conceal it. The numbers the board was seeing and the numbers of units actually coming out of the factory had nothing in common with each other. But why? If anyone had looked over the figures with any diligence (well, a _lot_ of diligence, Asami conceded) it would have come up. How could they possibly have expected to hide it? The second it got to someone higher than the person fudging the numbers it would be revealed, and who would be so foolish...Asami sat up a little straighter in her chair. There really was only one option. Only one person in the company could even hope to get away with this without a superior finding out.  
“Dad, what the hell are you playing at?”

Asami put the kettle on. This was going to take all night.

Morning dawned on a rather dishevelled Asami. There were dark rings under her eyes, and a small rainforest of paperwork piled on her desk and in an orbit around her chair. She swivelled, grabbing the right sheet and bringing it to the desk to cross reference with another chart. In her free hand the pen spun around her fingers absentmindedly as her brain worked. The money added up. That was the problem. That was why nobody had seen it before her. The shortfall from the drop in production should have been picked up but there wasn’t one, not on paper. So where in the hells was this money coming from? What was it buying? Asami hesitated but no, surely Hiroshi wouldn’t have been _stupid_ enough to be dealing under the table? They’d nearly lost the company to the last disaster and he’d barely survived being voted out by the board over it. But if he’d repurposed the factory to produce something other than their usual products it would explain everything. _Somebody_ was paying in, and they were getting something, but she didn’t have a damn clue what from these records. The manifests looked like they were supposed to, but that obviously couldn’t be right. So what was coming in and out of this factory?

It could, she knew, be legitimate. If there was a security issue with the product then that might explain the secrecy, the concealment. And she wanted it to be legitimate. She wanted to be able to walk up to her father at the breakfast table, ask, and be told that she wasn’t allowed to know about this particular venture. And that would have been it. Future Industries had done work for various security services and militaries before, and Hiroshi had told her as much. But that was the problem. Before now he’d always _told_ her. She’d never had to ask, never mind uncover the information for herself.

Asami forced herself out of the chair, stumbling a little on her way to the kitchen. She paused at the door. Her father was sat in his usual chair, newspaper laid out in front of him, still in his dressing gown, glasses perched on the end of his nose. Asami knew he looked exactly the same as he did yesterday, but she couldn’t shake the feeling, the suspicion. She sank into her usual chair, pouring herself a cup of tea from the pot, and let the silence that never felt so uncomfortable stretch between them.

Hiroshi read on, completely ignorant of his daughter’s discomfort. He finished his breakfast, folded his paper and left with his usual farewell. 

Asami stayed at the table long after he left. She wanted to call someone, to have them tell her that she was being paranoid, that she was just trying to distract herself, but she didn’t have anyone to call. Her first choice was MIA and in spirits only knew what kind of trouble, and the rest had enough to be getting on with that. They didn’t need her dropping another problem on them. No, she was on her own for this one.

Asami waited for her father’s car to pull out of the office car park before she stepped inside, using her pass to access the lift. Her father’s assistant waved her in to Hiroshi’s office, and why wouldn’t she? She’d known Asami for years.

 Asami locked the door behind her, crossing to her father’s desk. She sat down and pulled the keyboard towards her. The screen asked for a password, one last chance to turn back. Asami swallowed her nerves and retrieved her father’s diary from its spot in the drawer. Hiroshi Sato was a genius, that much was definitely true, but Asami knew her father had a terrible memory for passwords and he’d long ago let slip where he wrote them down in case his memory failed. Using his trust against him left a sour taste in Asami’s mouth, but she had to know. Forgiveness was easier to get than permission.

It didn’t take her long to find and copy the relevant files. She tucked the memory stick into her pocket and shut the machine down.

Back in the relative privacy of her study Asami examined her haul. She couldn’t make head or tail of the various shipments to the factory; she did mechanical and electrical engineering, not chemical or biological, and so did Future Industries. So what the hell were they doing with all this? Asami let herself flop back against her chair. This was going to take forever to work out, and she was due in a lecture in half an hour.

 

Opal turned up to class that afternoon looking more tired than Asami felt.  Asami caught a glimpse of Bolin lurking for a moment in the doorway to the lecture theatre before ducking away. She waved Opal over to a spot near the back, away from any inquisitive ears.  
“I don’t suppose you have any news?”Asami asked, already knowing the answer but hoping against hope. Opal just slumped into her seat, confirming Asami’s suspicions. “Damn. Opal, not that I’m not glad to see you, but why are you in today? Nobody would blame you for skiving off.”  
Opal shrugged listlessly.  
“Fuck all I can do, really. It’s be on the island, trying to keep the kids from hearing everyone yelling at each other, walk around til my feet bleed, or try and distract myself for a couple of hours.”  
Asami thought back to her late night project.  
“I know the feeling.”

Bolin was waiting when they came out, and Asami had the sneaking suspicion he’d been waiting out there the entire time, like a guard dog. The thought unnerved Asami because if Korra had taken _herself_ off then what could they possibly be needing guarding from? Guarding suggested something quite different and altogether more concerning. She fought back the urge to ask; she had no doubt that if the danger, if there was any, had extended to her they would have let her know. And pushing on the matter just seemed so cruel. Bolin looked as tired and miserable as Opal, not that that was really surprising given how close the three of them seemed to be, and the slight limp to both of their movements suggested that Opal might not have been speaking hyperbolically when she mentioned searching til her feet bled. Asami again stamped down any thought of bringing the two of them in on whatever fuckery her father was doing with the company. They had enough to be dealing with right now.  But that didn’t mean she had to cut them off entirely.   
“I don’t know about you two, but I could really do with a drink.”

It wasn’t like their other nights out. It was quite and tense, tucked away in a corner of the bar, the glasses stacking up all too quickly. When Opal managed to miss the table with her elbow and pour beer all down her shirt they decided it was past time to call it a night, rising unsteadily.   
“Are you two going to get back ok?”  
Opal nodded, leaning against Bolin.  
“I’m staying on the island at the moment. We’ll be fine.”  
“Text me when you get there?”  
“You too.”  
On an impulse Asami stepped forward, wrapping her arms around both of them, never mind Opal’s sopping shirt.   
“I know there’s something going on, ok? Something you’re not telling me, maybe you can’t, but please. If there’s anything I can do...”  
“We’d ask.” Bolin said, at once. “Trust me. Hell, we’d beg. But right now there’s nothing. And it’s just not our place to share all... _this_.” He sounded wretched. “But i-when, _when_ we get...she gets back...I think she’s going to need you.”   
Asami nodded into his broad shoulder.

The next day Asami woke to a stinking headache and an empty house. She crawled out of bed, bleary eyed, and just about managed to negotiate her way to the bathroom to stick her head under the tap. _Misery drinking. Never a good idea, no matter what it seemed like at the time._

It was late afternoon before Asami felt up to trying to grapple with the mystery currently plaguing her. Well, the mystery she actually had a chance of solving at least. She cracked her neck and brought up the shipping manifests once more, noting down which orders corresponded to actual orders and which ones were ghost orders. The pattern soon started to emerge. Only certain trucks were used for the fake orders, but the vehicles themselves definitely existed. Well, that was a starting point at least. Asami ran her finger across the list of vehicles and dates, searching for the pattern, and found one. A bulk job, supposedly for a distributor out towards the far edge of the Earth Kingdom, always transferred by a specific truck, early in the evening.  Well after the factory would have shut down for the night. And there was another shipment due at the end of the week. Asami rolled her shoulders releasing the tension. That was her window to work out what the hell was going on.

It was almost laughably easy. There were two dozen spy shops in the city that could furnish her with all the covert surveillance gear she could ever want, with a complimentary martini glass for the discerning customer who spent above the minimum threshold. A little bit of electrical know-how and not unreasonable paranoia was enough to disassemble the pieces and obliterate any helpful little marker or serial number that might have helped a resourceful individual trace them back to her should it all go horribly wrong. She’d learned that the hard way when she’d been caught out like that years ago when she’d bugged her father’s office to find out what he was planning on getting her for her birthday. That seemed a long time ago now.

Nobody battered an eyelid when she pulled in at the Future Industries vehicle depot. She parked her car up in the garage, and then she was just another body in work overalls. She kept her head down, but even people that did see her didn’t think anything of it. If they recognised her they didn’t suspect anything; why would they? She was the boss’s daughter and a semi regular fixture about the company. If they saw her kicking the tyres and fussing about a rather nondescript company lorry they weren’t about to jump to any nefarious conclusions.

Asami had expected to feel satisfied on leaving the depot. Instead she just felt sick, her stomach churning with unanswerable questions. Korra was somewhere in some kind of trouble band she couldn’t halp, and her father might be about to torpedo everything she’d worked for and trash their family reputation even more thoroughly than anything that had come before. Asami gripped the wheel. One problem at a time. She had to deal with what was in front of her, and just hope that Korra found her way back to her sooner rather than later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Detective Asami is on the case. Wonder what she'll find?
> 
> The short version for this unforgivable delay; did an MA dissertation, drank half of London, moved home, illness in the family, unemployment (not conducive to writing as it turns out), terrible job (also not conducive), back to unemployment (it was fixed term, I didn't get fired thank you very much). But we're here, we're back and do not despair as the next chapter is all but ready to be published. I wouldn't leave you that long without having something decent to come back with!...ok, I probably would, but I'd feel _very_ bad about it. Come scream at me at spudking.tumblr for pretty much any reason.


	16. Asami's Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami's investigation takes a turn she never expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good god, that's almost a reasonable gap between updates. I must be ill.

 

It seemed to take a lifetime to reach the end of the week. Opal made a few more appearances in class, looking worse by the day. Hiroshi had noticed that there was something preying on Asami’s mind, but he had no idea what. Something, some twist in her gut, had stopped Asami telling him about Korra, and it wasn’t just the friction they’d had what felt like an eternity ago at that dinner after the minibus accident. This was something important, something that mattered, and right now Asami didn’t know what the hell her father was mixed up in. It made her sick to even think it but the truth was right now she didn’t know if she could trust him.

Asami left her usual car at home. It was a little too ostentatious for what she needed. She gathered her equipment and loaded it up into the midrange 4x4 she’d borrowed from the pool of company cars. After a moment’s hesitation she added one last thing to the glove box, and prayed like hell she wouldn’t have to use it.

There was one thing Asami hadn’t taken into account. Stakeouts were boring. She was parked a little way off the road towards the factory, waiting for the truck to pull in, the GPS tracker showing it was still a few miles out. Asami tried to calm her nerves, quiet her mind from second guessing her. It was far too late to pull out now. All she’d found out so far was that the driver for this particular jaunt liked singing along to the radio, very out of key. Maybe that was her penance for playing amateur detective. Maybe this really was just a classified contract and she’d gone to all this trouble for no damn reason at all. _Either way, we’re going to find out soon enough_.

The truck rolled through the gates, pulling up in the loading bay. Asami straightened up. Showtime.

The first thing they loaded in was some kind of cabinet that looked like it had ripped from the back of an ambulance. Not exactly standard, but nothing outwardly nefarious there; she’d known they were doing something with chemicals after all. Then there were the benches, locked into pre-existing grooves on the floor, like a troop transport. That was definitely weird. As was the sheer number of individuals loading such meagre cargo. Asami counted six, driver included. The knot in her stomach tightened. This felt like something far worse than just a shady business deal.

She was right.

At first Asami didn’t, couldn’t, believe her eyes when she saw the shape on the screen. It was only when it was manhandled into the bed of the truck with all the care of a sack of potatoes, landing on the floor with a meaty thump, that she had let herself understand. Asami watched her world implode from four separate angles because it wasn’t cargo. It wasn’t chemicals, it wasn’t weapons. It was so much worse than that. It was a person. It was a fucking _person_.

Asami wanted to throw up as the form was lifted onto the bench, slumping back against the side of the lorry, limp as rags. She could see the shackles on the figure’s wrists, secured by a central chain to the struts of the bench.  
_“She going to be a problem?”_ enquired one of the crew, the voice tinny but still nervous on the little speaker. _“I heard she damn near ripped out Ras’s throat when they let her go too long between doses.”_  
_“Nah, not tonight.”_ Laughed another, securing an IV bag to the frame of the truck. “ _Between what they’ve given her and this little lot,”_ he connected it to a line that was already in place in the captive’s arm. “ _worst she’ll be able to is spit._ ”  
“ _Then why the heavy presence?”  
_ The guard shrugged.  
_“The boss says jump, you jump. Come on, she’s all strapped in and spark out. See?”_ Asami winced at the noise of the slap. The body slumped sideways as far as the restraints would allow but there was no other reaction. “ _Let’s go pick up the coffee before we start this shit._ ”

They filed out, leaving Asami staring at a screen a mile away. Her ears were ringing and she could taste bile in the back of her throat. Of everything, everything she could have possibly considered she had never envisaged anything like this. She covered her mouth, trying not to gag, trying not to hyperventilate. She needed to call the police. She should have called the police, what the hell did she think she was doing trying to play detective, how the hell did she think she was going to...

A movement on the screen broke her from her stream of panic. The prisoner had shifted, ever so slightly, raising her head to scan her surroundings. _Oh fuck._ Asami watched as she craned her neck, getting her teeth into the thin plastic tube in her arm. There was a moment’s pause, and then she spat onto the floor. Then she did it again. And again. It took Asami until the third time to notice the decreasing fluid in the IV bag. _Holy shit._ Clearly she was rather less incapacitated than her captors hoped, but she was still shackled to the back of a truck and heavily outnumbered. Asami looked at the figure who was now testing her restraints, and made the only decision she could. It wasn’t a difficult one. It was barely even a conscious one. It was the only choice she could have made if she ever wanted to look herself in the eye again. She threw the thermos of coffee onto the back seats, buckled in tight and turned on the ignition. By her count she had maybe eight minutes from the goons loading into the van to come up with a plan to take out a seven tonne truck, six guards, rescue a fucking _prisoner_ , and escape. It was a good thing she’d always worked well under pressure.

Asami was in no hurry to close the distance; the further from the factory the better, it meant any reinforcements that might come would take longer to get to them. She manoeuvred into a better position, gripping the steering wheel and tried to bring her racing heart back under control. She could see the truck’s lights approaching in the distance. _Last chance to back out._ A small, treacherous voice whispered in her ear. Asami gritted her teeth. _Back out? **Fuck. That.**_

Asami started forward, brain spitting out figures like popcorn from the machine, tracking speeds, tracking distances. She had to get this right. Too late, and she’d probably get killed. Too early and it wouldn’t work at all. Her hands were shaking as she shifted up one final gear. _NOW._ Asami jerked the steering wheel hard, and veered into the path of the oncoming juggernaut. She closed her eyes, offering a silent prayer over the noise of the screaming brakes and blaring horn, and braced for impact.

It never came.

The truck had skidded when the brakes were slammed on, now lengthways across the road. Asami unbuckled her belt with shaking hands, barely managing to retrieve her emergency option from the glove box before she stumbled out of the jeep, towards the truck.

The driver had managed to disentangle himself, jumping down from the cab.  
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he all but screamed, but Asami’s head was still echoing the noise of the brakes, the noise of that body hitting the truck bed. Everything else felt unreal. She noticed the baton at the man’s hip with almost clinical disinterest as she closed the gap between them. She caught herself on his shoulder and, as if in a dream, closed the switch in the electric glove she’d slipped on and let him feel every single one of the 50,000 volts. He dropped like a stone.

The driver’s mate saw it all happen and came running at her, old school Equalist shock baton in hand. Asami dodged the first two wild swings, caught him full in the nose with the heel of her ungloved hand and followed it up with a shock straight to the solar plexus. As she stooped to pick up the baton the doors of the trailer burst open, a body tumbling out and landing in a heap. The prisoner leapt after it, using it as a crash pad. There was something entirely too familiar about that manoeuvre but Asami had no time to work it out, because while the prisoner was struggling to get to their feet the rest of the guards were jumping out of the back of the lorry.

It was clear this woman was no novice. Despite her condition she did well to dodge the first few strikes, but she was one and they were three, and they hadn’t been drugged. Asami was closing the distance when she saw her catch a blow across the face, another one to the back of the knee sending her sprawling. They closed in, whaling on her with boots and fists and truncheons. They never even saw Asami coming. Two decades of instruction and all-consuming rage were put to fine use. The first got a baton across the back of the head, Asami too unfamiliar with the weapon to find the shock button, but the baton was a pretty effective weapon all by itself. She elbowed the next in the throat before turning back to slam her knee into the third’s crotch. He folded up, whimpering. She caught the first across the ribs, this time discharging the baton properly, and got the third in the groin again for good measure. The one she’d caught in the throat took a wild swing at her. She stepped inside his reach, blocking the swing with her own baton before grabbing him by the face. There was the briefest moment when he realised what was about to happen, and then Asami hit the switch. He collapsed, twitching.  

The sudden stillness was like a flipped switch. The woman lay still for a moment, curled on the tarmac with her arms still flung over her head in an attempt to shield herself, her breathing ragged and uneven. At this distance Asami could see that the sleeves had been torn from the fitted base layer, the leg of her odd, thick trousers sliced to the knee. The visible skin was mottled with bruising, the hair matted. The shackles still dangled from one wrist, one of the locks broken somehow.    
“I...” Asami knelt and reached for one bare shoulder, and realised she was using the gloved hand. She pulled it back hurriedly. “I...I’m not with them. I swear, I’m _not_ with them, I’m here to help. I know you probably don’t have any reason to trust me...”  
She stopped, because the woman in black was slowly uncurling. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, cradling one arm to her chest. Asami could make out a heavily bleeding nose under the mane of mild hair. She seemed to do a double take.  
“You...?” She asked uncertainly, voice hoarse and raw. And something about it seemed all too familiar. Asami shuffled slowly closer, hands out ready to catch her because the woman barely seemed capable of holding herself upright. Every inch of her looked like it was in pain. “Spirits.” The curse came in that same rough croak, and Asami could only imagine what had happened to strain her voice like that.  She sat up a little straighter, brushing some of the hair back from her facer to give her a better look. One of the blows had split the skin on her forehead and it too was bleeding, the eye beneath so swollen it was almost shut. It didn’t matter. Asami would have recognised that face in any circumstances.   
“Hi, Asami,” Korra managed. She tried to move forward and Asami came to meet her halfway. Korra collapsed against her. Asami was almost too shocked to react, wrapping her arms around her to take her weight. Korra wasn’t crying but her breathing was ragged, her arm weak around Asami’s shoulders. 

The moment was broken when Korra pulled back, an urgent expression on her face. She lurched sideways, catching herself on her good arm as she retched. Asami winced.   
“Fuck me,” she wheezed, looking up at Asami with a twisted grin on her face. “Think they’ll use this for the next scare ‘em straight BS? ‘Don’t do drugs, kids!’” she spat, dragging the back of her hand across her mouth and wiping the mess off on her trousers. “OK. Fuck.” She hauled herself to her feet, cradling her arm to her chest. “We need to get out of here before their friends show up.”    
But instead of running to the car Korra climbed back up into the truck. Asami didn’t have much option but to follow.

Korra was rummaging feverishly through the medical cabinet. She grabbed a handful of vials, a few syringes, and another IV bag.   
“What...”  
“Trust me.” Korra pocketed most of her ill gotten gains, grabbing a roll of bandage. “This is not my first rodeo.”  
“Is that so?” came a voice from the open doors.

Asami made to turn and Korra grabbed her shoulder.  
“ _Don’t let him see your face!”_ she mouthed furiously, before directing her attention to the man at the end of the truck. One of the guards clearly hadn’t been hit quite hard enough. “Why don’t you just put that down before someone gets hurt, hey?”  
Asami turned her head as much as she dared, and saw the figure silhouetted against the night sky. And the gun in his hand. Korra had one hand raised in what, in the dimly lit truck, might just have passed for a gesture of surrender but her other hand...Asami stared. Korra had taken one of the syringes and fed it directly into the port on her arm, injecting herself with whatever was inside. Judging by the way her arm was shaking it wasn’t anything good. But Korra didn’t look scared. If anything she looked determined, almost confident even. It was surreal. She let one syringe fall, masking the noise by taking a step forward, loading in a second. Asami saw the grimace, saw her flex her fingers as if testing the motion, saw the tiniest twitch of a grin at the corner of her mouth.   
“You’ll be the ones getting hurt if you don’t get out here, right now! Any funny business and I swear to...”

Asami saw it all in slow motion. A flick of Korra’s wrist, a curve of an arm, a calculated step. And the fluid from the IV bag jammed into Korra’s pockets shot out like a whip, smacking the man sideways into the frame of the truck and freezing him in place. Korra nearly crumpled with the effort, catching herself on the side of the truck. She crossed to him, grabbing the gun in his still extended hand and twisted until something cracked. The man screamed as he dropped it. Asami just stared as Korra, swaying slightly, weighed the gun in her hand, staring at the pinned man. Asami knew she should say something but she couldn’t force the words out as Korra slowly raised the weapon, muzzle brushing against his skull. She wanted to tell Korra no, that it was wrong, that she shouldn’t, but it was so hard to think like that with Korra stood there bleeding from half a dozen places that Asami could see, barefoot and battered. And then Korra lowered the gun.   
“And there’s the difference between us. I wouldn’t.” She said coldly. “Not couldn’t. _Wouldn’t_.” She stripped down the gun, throwing the pieces out into the night. She turned back to Asami, and from her expression it was clear she was expecting judgement, expecting condemnation for even considering it.  She didn’t get it.   
“Are you ok?”  
Korra blinked, running a mental inventory. _Knee: hurts. Ribs: bad. Stomach: writhing like a sack of snakes, want to puke. Arm: fuck. Head: double fuck, fuzzy and spinning. Overall: not good. Very not good._    
“I’m fantastic.”

Korra twisted her hand, drawing a little of the splattered saline up into the mechanism of the handcuffs that were still dangling from one arm. There was another motion, an expression of concentration, and then frost patterns were blooming across the steel. There was an audible crack as the lock broke. Korra unhooked the steel cuff, rubbing her wrist where it had left a vicious welt, flexing her fingers again with an expression of extreme discomfort.   
“That’s a pretty cool party trick,” Asami managed, wide eyed.  
“Just wait til I’m back on strength,” Korra promised, and then closed her eyes as another wave of nausea washed over her. “give you a hell of a show. Til then, I think maybe we should get to running.”  
“Probably a good idea,” Asami conceded.

Asami had to help Korra down from the truck and across to the jeep, Korra’s arm around her shoulders, Asami’s round Korra’s waist. She collapsed into the passenger seat as Asami dashed round to the driver’s side, pulling away at speed. Korra hooked another IV bag onto the handrail of the car and linking it up to the port still in her arm.   
“What...”  
“’s just saline.” She tore off a length of bandage, tying it clumsily into a knot and slipping it round her neck, manoeuvring her badly bruised arm into it with a wince. “Tactical dehydration, their usual playbook. Keep me more subdued, cut off as much access to water as possible. Like their little chemical cocktail wasn’t enough.” The grin was more of a grimace. The blood all over her face didn’t help at all. “Well, clearly it wasn’t.” Asami decided not to mention that if hadn’t been for her timely intervention then Korra would have been in real trouble.

“So...you’re a waterbender.” Asami tried to make it sound casual, and Korra snorted.   
“Yeah. I’m a bender. ‘swhy those Equalist bastards took me. They’ve been pretty methodical with the dosing, this was my first real chance to make a break for it.”  
“And that stuff you gave yourself?” Asami knew that when this was all over she was probably going to need to scream into a pillow for about an hour at the very least, but right now Korra looked half dead and was clearly in need of serious medical attention. Breaking down right now was just not an option. Korra seemed almost unconcerned, if you overlooked how badly she was shaking. Asami could see how bruised the skin around the port in her arm was, the imprint of a dozen hands overlaying each other. Her knuckles whitened on the wheel.   
“Antidote. Probably overdid it, but I needed an edge or that guy was going to put a bullet in our skulls.” Again she flexed her fingers, massaging the limb in question. “That shit they had me hooked up to was Amon in a fucking bottle.” Korra leaned back into the headrest, jaw clenching against the pain. “I managed to get one of the guards stuck with a needle of it, clocked where they kept the anti-toxin, what it looked like. Not exactly a perfect instant fix, and not fucking healthy, but it was enough. I wasn’t in any hurry to get shot.”

They hit a red light, and with no sign of anything trailing them Asami paused at it. They were getting back into the city now, other cars around. Witnesses, a double edged sword; more eyes meant their pursuers would be less likely to try anything but it also meant she couldn’t drive like a getaway driver unless she wanted to risk getting pulled over. Asami just had to keep her nerve, blend with the traffic, and they might just get out of this without Korra dying in her passenger seat. _Don’t even think about that_ , Asami chastised herself, and pressed a little harder on the accelerator. She glanced sideways.   
“Whoa, shit, Korra, wake up yeah?”  
Korra’s eyes fluttered back open.   
“Sorry.”  
“Don’t be sorry, just stay awake. Because I have no idea what they gave you and I have no idea how hurt you are, and I have very basic first aid skills and I’m kind of freaking out...”  
“Wasn’t apologising for sleeping.” Korra cut her off. Asami raised an eyebrow. Korra grinned, and at least this time it looked like her under the blood and bruising. “I was apologising for not texting you back.”  
Asami gaped and tried to form a response, but all that came out was a half snort, half sob.   
“I think I can let it slide this time.”

Asami nudged the heating up to max when she realised the noise she could hear was Korra shivering. In the confines of the car it was hard to ignore the fact that, to put it bluntly, Korra stank. She stank of blood, of chemicals, of sweat and smoke and lack of hygiene. It made her stomach turn and her fists itch because _who the hell could do this to another human being?_ It wasn’t a welcome thought, because she knew exactly _who_ , and if she let herself think about that then she was going to break entirely, and that wasn’t a luxury she had right now. She glanced sideways to Korra to distract herself and saw that Korra’s head had started to loll again, and if there was one thing Asami remembered it was not to let someone go to sleep before they got to actual medics.  
“How...how did they get you? What the hell happened?”  
Korra’s eyes snapped back open.  
“Fire,” she grunted. Asami waited for the explanation. “Dragon Flats.”  
“You...you went in _there_?!” Asami had seen it on the news, had seen the billowing smoke halfway across the city. Now Korra’s getup made sense; out of context she hadn’t been able to recognise the heavy duty firefighter’s trousers.   
“There were people in there.” Korra made it sound so simple. “But it was a trap. Like...” she swallowed. “Like the bridge. The minibus. That...that was a trap. Must’ve been when they started watching us. Got me in the ambulance. Got people out and then they got me.”  
“Bastards,” Asami said, and she meant it. Korra smiled, and then a thought occurred to her hazy brain. Her voice was suddenly more urgent.  
“Where are you taking me?”  
“Er, hospital?” Asami suggested, like it was obvious. “Korra, you can barely...Korra!”  
Korra reached for the wheel in a panic and Asami barely shoved her arm away, swerving a little in the road to the alarm of the cars around them. “Bloody hell!”  
“You cannot take me to a hospital!” Korra was staring at her, eyes wide. Well, one eye was. The other was too bruised.   
“You need a doctor! You needed a doctor a week ago! You’re bleeding, you’ve got fuck knows how many broken bones, you’re drugged, you’re probably concussed...”  
“I need...Asami,” Korra ground her teeth, hating how weak her voice was, how much effort it was taking to mentally line up the words. “Asami, please. There are people who can take care of me, ok?”  
Asami showed no sign of being willing to divert from her course.  
“Dammit, if you take me to a hospital they will find me! They will find me, and they will kill me and they will probably kill you too because, to be cliché, you know too much.”  
“If we get you to a hospital...” Asami started but Korra cut her off.  
“Then they will come dressed as doctors. Or as police. Or as my concerned family.” Korra was clearly trying to sound matter of fact but there was a desperate edge to her voice. “Asami, _please_. Either take me where I ask or let me out of the car right here because it would be kinder than handing me to them on a platter.”  
Asami considered things. And then pulled over. Korra swallowed hard and reached for her seatbelt.  
“Oh, don’t you dare!” Asami smacked her hand away. She had already removed hers and was tugging off her jacket. She stretched across the car, draping it over Korra. “You’re fucking freezing, I can hear your teeth chattering. We were close enough to the hospital that I thought it’d fine but if we’re going...well. I don’t know where.” She tucked smoothed it over Korra’s shoulders, careful not to tug at the line. One hand cupped Korra’s cheek, ever so gentle against the swelling. “Where’s safe for you?”  
There was a split second of reluctance, the product of years of concealment.   
“Air Temple Island. There are healers there. Supplies.”  
“The ferry...”  
“There’s a speedboat. Emergencies only.” Korra gave a hollow chuckle. “If this ain’t an emergency...” She trailed off.   
“Got it.” Asami pulled back out into the light traffic of the late evening.   

By the time they reached the docks the IV bag was empty, and Korra was shaking even in the heated car under Asami’s jacket. Asami all but hauled Korra out of her seat, half supporting, half carrying her on the stumble towards the island’s motorboat. Korra flopped down into the boat, cursing as she jarred her bad arm. Asami wrapped the jacket back around Korra’s shoulders and fished the keys out of the hiding spot Korra indicated. She started the motor, and Korra shuffled across the boat, resting the unbloodied side of her face against Asami’s shoulder, Asami feeling Korra’s body start to go slack with exhaustion and spirits only knew what else. Asami had one hand on the tiller as she steered them out towards the island. The other was held in Korra’s weakening grip.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Asami Sato. She's beauty, she's grace, she'll electrocute your face.
> 
> Korra is nobody's damsel in distress, but she's not objecting to this rescue.
> 
> Come yell at me in the comments or on tumblr, or ask about headcanons, or whatever. Feedback is always appreciated, otherwise it's just me screaming into the void and that gets tiresome.


	17. Fallout

Bolin tried not to jostle Jinora as he negotiated his way through the doorway. Thankfully with her spirit currently incorporeally stalking the streets of Republic City she didn’t feel her head _thunk_ into the doorframe. Or at least she wouldn’t until she got back into it.    
“Nice.” Mako gave him a sarcastic clap, and Bolin pouted.   
“Like you never did that to me.”  
Mako couldn’t really argue on that one.  
“Are you really supposed to move her when she’s all...” Mako waved his hands “...ghosty?”  
“I left a note in pebbles out on the meditation platform, so if she needs to find her body she knows where it is,” Bolin successfully managed the door into Jinora’s bedroom and laid her down. “But she can’t do that airbender keep-warm trick when she’s doing this,” he tugged the blankets over her, disrupting a sleeping flying lemur who made both brothers jump before exiting the room via the window. “She was shivering so bad, Mako I just...”  
Mako didn’t need any further explanation. He pressed the back of his palm to Jinora’s forehead, satisfying himself that she wasn’t cold enough to be in any danger. Bolin seemed to misinterpret the gesture.  
“I know, I know, I’m overreact-“  
He stopped because Mako had hugged him. A rare enough occasion for Bolin to savour it without comment. At least at first.  
“Tell me you’re not dying.” He begged, as they parted, and Mako punched him in the arm.  
“No. You’re a good guy, Bo. That’s all.”  
“...are you sure you’re not dying?”

Mako had made it halfway down the hallway, still rolling his eyes, when Bolin called after him. And even though Bolin was fighting to keep his voice neutral Mako could hear the six year old underneath it all.  
“We’re going to find Korra, right?”  
That was definitely kid Bolin alright. All fear, even as he fought not to show it, all faith in his big brother to swoop in and make it all right because that was what Mako did.   
“It’s Korra, Bo,” Mako turned back to face him. “If we don’t, it’ll only be because she found us first.”  
It was the reassurance Bolin needed. Mako just wished he had someone that could make him believe it too.

He was knocked from his thoughts by Opal colliding with him.  
“What’s the hurry?” he asked, and then saw her set expression.  
“They’ve just picked up a signal on the radio. You know we changed the code words before Korra...before the Dragon Flats Fire?”  
“So what?”  
“So someone on the radio who won’t identify themselves keeps hollering out an old code. ‘Blocked intersection’. Incoming injured.”  
“You think it’s a duress signal?” Mako tried to puzzle it out, “Wouldn’t they just use the actual...”   
“I think we go ask. And I’m not intending to be overly polite about it.”

It wasn’t until they’d cleared the corridor on their way to the dock that Jinora started to stir.

“There.”   
“One boat?” Bolin frowned. “Not really much of an invasion, is it?”  
“Maybe it’s not an attack,” Mako reasoned. “Maybe it’s infiltration. You know, ‘oh, I’m one of you, I’m so glad to be safe at last’, and before we know it we’re all in chains in some Equalist hellhole because the spiderrat has sold us all out.”  
Bolin’s knuckles cracked as his hands balled into fists.   
“Let them fucking try it.”

Jinora sat up, rubbing a surprisingly aching head. The change in location was disconcerting but there was something else that felt weird. Different. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Something in the air? Not a storm coming, she knew what that felt like, but not entirely unlike it either. The sense of something _big_. Something close. Something familiar.

If the speedboat’s occupant was surprised to find half a garrison of the White Lotus waiting for them they didn’t show it, tumbling out onto the jetty in their haste to securely moor, and then turned back to the boat to try and pull something out of the bottom. No one stepped forward to help. In the gloom it was hard to make out much beyond the silhouette; tall and slim.   
“You have to...” they, she by the voice, began, as she turned. And that was when Mako saw it. The glove.  
“Equalist!” He roared.  
Mako was already moving, even as she cried out a denial.

Asami heard the yell. She saw the flame burst out of the air.

The blast of air hit them like a body blow, Mako’s blast of fire dissipated in the howl of wind. Both sides stared agog at Jinora, dropped from the sky between them, glider staff clutched in hand.  
“Jinora, get out the way!” Mako snapped, but Jinora had already vaulted the Equalist interloper, landing in the boat to peer at whatever the cargo was, ignoring the alarmed shout from the Equalist who stepped forward. Mako raised his fists, blazing. The intruder raised her glove, sparks playing about its fingers.  
“I won’t let you hurt...” she began, trying to keep both Jinora and Mako in her eyeline, and Jinora cut her off.  
“It’s Korra!”

Mako was too shocked to remember to keep the flames alive. The intruder lowered her hand cautiously, still very aware of the masses ready to tear her apart.   
“Please.” The Equalist, the not-Equalist? Mako wasn’t really sure, seemed to sag. “You have to help her. I don’t know what they did but she’s hurt, she’s messed up, I don’t...”  
“Get a damn stretcher!” Jinora ordered from the boat, and the White Lotus tripped over themselves to obey. The Equalist moved aside as Opal hurried for the boat, not even giving her as much as a glance as she passed.

 Even with Jinora’s announcement she couldn’t bring herself to believe until she saw the battered face. Korra was unconscious, pale and bloody, her head now cradled in Jinora’s lap. Every breath was uneven, an effort. One arm was in a makeshift sling, a jacket wrapped about her shoulder that was clearly not Korra’s size. There was something very familiar about it.     
“She told me to bring her here,” came the voice from over Opal’s shoulder. “She said...please tell me you can help her.”  
Opal turned. The woman on the dock was shivering, dressed in just a t-shirt in the evening chill. Goosebumps had broken out over her bare arms, and there was a smear of blood on her cheek, dry, no visible sign of any injury. The last time Opal had seen Asami this dishevelled she’d nearly died at the bottom of a river. It was too much to process, too much to take in.   
“We can help,” She said, and hoped it wasn’t a lie.   
“Opal I know what this must look like but...”  
“We can deal with that later,” Opal cut her off, as the White Lotus approached. “Right now Korra’s what matters.”  
Asami had to agree.   
  
The trip from the dock to the Infirmary was a blur for Asami. Opal was somewhere between leading her and dragging her, her grip painfully tight as they followed the White Lotus stretcher bearers. Kya ran down to meet them, interrogating Asami about anything and everything she knew without so much as breaking step or even looking away from Korra’s battered form, the emergency foil blanket crinkling and rustling as she shivered beneath it. Asami’s reeling mind managed to remember the extra phials Korra had swiped from the Equalist transport, and they were immediately reclaimed from her pockets.   
“Amon!” Asami remembered, and she couldn’t miss the reaction. Jinora nearly tripped over herself as she spun to face her.  “Amon in a bottle, that’s what she called it.”  
“Something to suppress bending,” Kya’s disgust showed clearly on her face. “No wonder you couldn’t feel her spiritual energy, with that poison blocking it.” She spat a word in a language Asami didn’t understand and yet needed no translation.

They reached the Infirmary, and Korra was transferred seamlessly from the stretcher to the bed, the White Lotus retreating at a wave from Kya. The others were a little harder to make leave. Under the lights, without the jolting motion from being carried, Korra’s injuries were far too visible. The blood coated half her face but did nothing to conceal the swelling. Asami wasn’t sure if Bolin reached for Opal’s hand or the other way round. Jinora made a choking sound as Kya unhooked Korra’s arm from the sling. The flesh around the IV site raw, looking almost as if it had been burned.  
“The anti-toxin,” she said, because Kya needed to know, “she said she shouldn’t have doubled the dose but...” Asami swallowed hard, remembering the gun. Kya rolled a sphere of water around her hand, passing it over Korra’s chest. Opal spoke for all of them.  
“How is she?”  
“Alive.”  
Asami bit back her immediate retort. It was clear Kya was concentrating, the glowing water tracing a definite pattern across Korra’s chest, Kya’s other hand squeezing Korra’s shoulder.  “I think...Jinora, I don’t think we’ll need it but tell your father to get a bison ready. Just in case. I don’t think there’s any immediate danger but I’d rather play this safe.”  
Jinora nodded and dashed away.  
“She told me I couldn’t take her to a hospital.” Asami objected weakly. Kya didn’t look up from her examination.  
“And she was right to. But there’s a hell of between the two of you staggering in off the street and us arriving en mass. Don’t you think we’re so scared of a couple of goons that we’d leave one of ours in any danger.”  
 Kya jerked her head, and they got the message, slinking out. All bar one.

Kya didn’t notice until she’d washed her hands, gloved up and retrieved a set of scissors. She was two snips into Korra’s already torn base layer when she realised Asami was still in the room, apparently unaware of the others’ exit.   
“You need to leave.”  
It came out more brusquely than Kya intended, and Asami bristled.   
“What, because...because...”  
“Because I doubt Korra’d care for having an audience for this,” Kya said, her voice purposefully softer as she indicated the scissors. “Go with Opal and Bolin. Let me take care of her. You got her to me, now let me do what I can.”

Asami took one last long look at Korra before she backed out of the room, throwing Kya a last pleading glance.

The scissors glided through the material, and Kya opened it to find a torso stained with overlapping bruises. She could feel the damage in Korra’s chest, entirely too aware of what the Equalists would have done to a waterbender to check to see if the equalising toxin was still in her system. Kya attached the electrodes, watching the monitor come to life. This wasn’t the time to be emotional. That could come later.

 Asami wasn’t expecting to be slammed against the nearest wall the second she left the Infirmary, but Mako wasn’t expecting an electroshock glove to wrap around his throat, so they both got a surprise.   
“What the fuck, Mako?” Bolin sounded more irritated than upset as he and Opal pulled them apart. “We said be cool!”  
“You’re telling me to ‘be cool’?” Mako demanded. “Hello? She strolls in here with Korra beat to shit, no explanation, wearing one of those fucking gloves, and we’re supposed to buy this? Her father’s an Equalist, she’s an Equalist!”  
“She brought Korra home.” Bolin countered, and Mako waved his hand dismissively.   
“It’s a ploy to gain our trust!”  
Asami gave him a scathing look over Opal’s head.  
“You think that the great conspiracy of evil put all the thought into this nefarious scheme and then sent _me_ armed with a traditional Equalist weapon instead of _literally any less suspicious combination?_ ”  
Mako opened his mouth and then shut it again.  
“Look, when Korra...Korra can back me up. She’ll tell you. I wasn’t there. I didn’t know. I’m no Equalist.”  
“And the glove?”  
“It’s almost like my father designed an easy-to-use self defence weapon so I have a few of them about the house and know how to use them,” Asami rolled her eyes. “If you think everyone with one of those gloves is an Equalist then I’m not going to tell you the sales figures; you’d never leave the house.”  
“Always got an answer, hey?” Mako challenged, even as Bolin shifted to block him stepping forward again.  
“Enough, Mako. She’s right. When Korra comes round she can confirm or deny anything Asami says. Until then...” Bolin stopped awkwardly. “Well, uh...”  
Asami pulled off the glove, holding it out.  
“Take it, if you want. Go lock me up somewhere til Korra comes round. I don’t care. You understand? _I. Don’t. Care._ I just...” she ran a hand through her hair distractedly. “I am having quite possibly the worst day of my life. And there have been a few serious contenders for that title, so please don’t underestimate just how awful a day it is. The last thing I need is Mr Testosterone over there getting all over protective because I swear, I have laid out five guys tonight already and I have no qualms about making it six.”  
Opal gently tugged the glove from Asami’s shaking hand, ignoring Mako reaching for it and tucking it into her own pocket.  
“Happy?” She sniped, and Mako grumbled. “Come on. If we’re going to scream at each other we’re doing it somewhere else. I’m not having Korra waking up to this nonsense.”  
The appeal to reason took the fight out of Mako, at least for the moment. They turned to leave, and once again Asami lingered, glancing towards the infirmary door.  
“Asami?”  
“...I don’t want to leave her.” The words sounded distant. Opal and Bolin exchanged a glance, and she reached out, taking gentle hold of Asami’s shaking hand. Asami didn’t react. The adrenaline that had sustained her through the last few mad hours was finally receding. Her head was throbbing, jaw muscles aching from how they’d been clenched, exhaustion crashing over her like a wave.    
“Trust us, ok? You’ve done all you can. Standing here won’t help her.”  
Asami reluctantly let Opal lead her away.

By the time they reached the kitchen Asami’s knees were threatening to fold. She didn’t so much sit as collapse into the chair. Mako picked up the kettle, holding it between his hand until it started to steam.  
“How did you even find her?” He demanded, as Bolin fetched the cups. “We tried everything and we couldn’t even get a whisper.”  
“I...I wasn’t looking. Not for Korra. I...” Asami accepted the cup, cradling it between her hands for the warmth if nothing else. “There was a discrepancy. In the accounts.” She stared down into the tea. “I bugged a truck. Figured I’d see what they were moving from the factory because the inventory was all lies and...and then I saw...”  
“Wait, factory?” Mako cut in abruptly.   
“The trucks...” Asami repeated herself. “Trucks. Oh no. Oh no, no, no.” The tea slopped over the side as she dropped the cup, gripping onto the table instead. “All those shipments. They were all...?”  
She couldn’t force herself to frame the words. The silence was answer enough. “And that was just since...since the fire...”   
The realisation was an awful thing to watch. Asami paled. She turned, looking at Mako directly. “You’re police, right? What do you need to raid a place, what...”  
“Just tell me the address.” Mako’s voice was softer than it had been before. “Tell me where. Let me worry about the rest of it.”  
She told him. He was already pulling his phone as he left the room.

“How many people has my fath...has this happened to?”  
“We honestly don’t know.” Opal refilled the teacup, pushing it back across the table until Asami took it on reflex. “We’ve heard rumours from across the Earth Kingdom. Ba Sing Se, Omashu. Seems to be grouped on the mainland now, nothing at the Tribes or in the Fire Nation.”  
“You went to Ba Sing Se. That morning, after drinks,” Asami remembered. “And Omashu...the bomb...”  
Bolin made a face.  
“Yeah, that one was a bit close for comfort. If Korra hadn’t, well...” he made an explosion noise. “Yeah.”  
Asami looked even more horrified and Bolin realised he’d probably said the wrong thing. “Um. Yeah. That, uh, that happened, but we were all ok. Korra, barely a scratch. I mean, she’s basically unkillable, right Opal?”  
Opal nodded fervently, and it was at least mostly for Asami’s benefit.”See?” Bolin said, triumphantly. “This is not the worst shit Korra’s gone through. Not by a long shot. I mean hell, this isn’t even the first time she’s been drugged by Equalist nutjobs!”  
The declaration was not quite as reassuring as Bolin had intended. Asami looked horrified, appalled, turning from Bolin to Opal in search of an explanation. Opal sighed.  
“We’ve got a lot of war stories, Asami. Korra more than most of us. She made a bit of name herself when she hit Republic City, and it got her noticed by Amon. He decided to send her a message. Scare her off.” Opal’s mouth quirked into a grin. “You can see how well that worked out for him.”  
 Asami was having a hard enough time dealing with current events, never mind the idea of Korra having endured a similar ordeal before. A thought occurred to her, one more unwelcome, unpleasant realisation. Korra could only have been seventeen at the absolute oldest when she’d had the run-in with Amon and his enforcers. Not even legally able to have a drink. And Amon... Asami tasted bile. How far had her father been involved with him? With the regime? Hiroshi had sworn blind that his interactions were purely business, that he just hadn’t dared to oppose the government, and at the time Asami had believed him. Of course she had. She’d wanted to, and she’d had no reason to think otherwise. But that was before she’d seen a bloodied captive in the back of a company truck.

Asami and the others relocated from the kitchen to Opal’s room when Asami started falling asleep at the table. Asami refused the bed, dropping into the desk chair. It wasn’t long before Jinora joined them, taking a seat at the side of the bed.   
“I can feel her better here,” she gave by way of explanation, closing her eyes and leaning back. “It’s...well. It’s getting better. Her spiritual energy. Or steadier, at least.”  
Ikki joined not long after, Meelo on her heels complaining sleepily about being left out. Mako returned after a few hours, looking grim and smelling of smoke. He grunted something about owing Asami a factory as he plonked himself down beside the kids. Asami looked on from the other side, Bolin and Opal curled round each other on a single bed that could barely fit Bolin on his own, the four others sprawled out to degrees. Meelo was already asleep, having somehow wriggled so that his head resting on Mako’s leg, but Mako didn’t seem to mind too much. There was something in the collective air of resigned patience that made Asami’s gut twist. It was like the hospital, she realised, the three of them waiting for her to wake up after the minibus crash. _Just how many times have they done this?_

_How many more times will they have to?_

 

Korra woke retching, muscles cramping, throat burning as she heaved, cracked ribs on fire.   
“Damn, kid, where the hell are you getting all that from?” murmured a voice, floating somewhere beyond her vision. Or were her eyes closed? Everything seemed to spinning all the same as she collapsed back against something soft, brain aching as it sloshed back against her skull. She flinched as the damp cloth touched her chin, wiping gently at her mouth. “Korra?” Korra tried for speech and managed an unintelligible slur. The cloth was pulled away, a soft hand cupping her cheek. “Just rest, kid. We’ve got you.”  
It didn’t make sense. Nothing was making sense. Her brain was full of fog and her body wouldn’t obey her. “Whoa there,” the voice was still calm, but a little more forceful. “You’re safe. Korra, it’s ok. It’s ok.”  
It was too much. Korra let go, sinking gratefully back into the peace and painlessness of unconsciousness.

The next time Korra woke the haze in her brain seemed to have lessened slightly. She lay still, just in case she was being observed, although all she could hear was a slightly irregular beeping. Korra tried to take stock. Everything still felt fuzzy somehow, numb, indistinct. The pain was still there, just muted. Distant. Waiting for her to move. She could feel the dull flare of pain in her side with each breath. Had that been a boot or a fist? She couldn’t remember. Korra gave herself a mental shake. That wasn’t what mattered right now. What mattered was working out where the hell she was and what she could do about that. Slowly she cracked open one eye, wincing at the brightness.

She was alone. Or at least that was how it looked, in this painfully bright room. Nobody sat there, watching, so attentive and yet so uncaring, clipboard in hand. The world was still shifting, not spinning quite, but unstable. Korra tried to open the other eye, but the swelling was still too bad to see more than a sliver. One working eye, a floor that kept tipping into the wall, and a body that had gone six rounds with the Boulder. It’d have to do. She tried to push herself upright and the pain in her side flared, her arm seared, the world tipping sharply out of balance. The slow beeps exploded, like some kind of alarm, and the darkness came rushing back up to claim her.

By the third time she took things even slower, easing her eyes open a crack at a time, so careful not to move as she took in her surroundings. She was on a bed. A medical bed, by the rails on it, and not flat out but tipped up, propped up. And there were pillows. A blanket. That on its own warranted a confused pause. And then Korra finally looked down at herself, and what she saw made her stomach flip. There was a tube pushing through her skin. Not in her arm, not this time, but burying into her flesh up near her collarbone. There were wires too, but they weren’t the issue right now. The tube was. She reached for it, and a hand closed about her wrist.  
“That’s really not a good idea,” came a voice.

Korra tried to throw the grip off on principle. She didn’t even hear what they said to her; it took at least three repetitions before it broke through the panic in her mind, before the fear withdrew its hold enough for Korra to comprehend the face in front of her own.  
“Kya?”  
“Welcome back,” The woman looked exhausted, but the smile was genuine. “You gave us quite the scare this time.”  
The strain left Korra’s body like cutting the strings on a puppet. It took her a moment to unscramble her thoughts.  
“Asami.”  
Kya went still. She’d been expecting that to come up at some point, but this quickly was probably a good sign. Or, just possibly, a really bad one. Korra swallowed hard, looking away, up to the ceiling. “She...she got me home?” She tried to lift her right hand and a throb of pain made her switch, left hand coming up to cover her mouth. “She came...she got me...I thought I dreamed...”  
And it was for this as much as anything else that Kya had stayed, because while the White Lotus had plenty of skilled healers there wasn’t one among them that Korra would have let pull her into the gentlest of hugs, mindful of her arm, her ribs, of the world of hurt she’d been put through. Wouldn’t have stayed quiet and just soothed as the tears started. That was something reserved for a very trusted few.    
“You’re home. You’re safe. No dream there.” Kya’s mouth quirked up into a grin, “Anyway, I doubt you’d dream about being this fucked up.”  
Korra sniffled a laugh into Kya’s shoulder, and Kya took the signal to pull back, easing Korra back against the pillows again. She noted the grimace, the stifled yawn and, with slightly more concern, the shiver. She’d removed some of the blankets once Korra’s body temperature had risen to a safe range and started holding steady, but that seemed to have been premature.   
“You gonna explain this?” Korra motioned to the IV line snaking under her skin, careful to avoid actually looking at it, and while she was trying to sound casual her voice wavered. “Or just, you know. Rip it the fuck out right now? Please? I’ve kinda had my fill of this whole...” she waved a hand again.  
Kya shook her head sympathetically.  
“Sorry kid. With...” Kya paused, looking at Korra’s slightly unfocused expression, and decided the full medical explanation was unlikely to be of much use, and switched to a simpler tack. “Some things take more than a bit of healing water.”  
“I’m feeling better!” Korra’s tone was verging on pleading, and if Kya hadn’t just been reading the results of recent blood tests, airbender couriered to the hospital and done on the sly by a bender on the staff, if Kya couldn’t see the readouts of Korra’s still less-than-optimal vitals she might have been tempted to go along with her.  
“That would be because I paid attention in medical school and am giving you things to help you recover. As opposed to being an immoral, inhuman son of a bitch using you as a human guinea pig with no concern for your long-term welfare.” Kya grinned. “Easy to confuse, I know.”   
Korra made to argue but had to bite it back as a wave of nausea made her stomach flip. Kya was ready in an instant, basin in one hand, the other steady and reassuring on Korra’s shoulder as her stomach muscles protested and her ribs flared and throat burned. When she finished, slumping back, Kya didn’t say ‘I told you so’, or anything so obnoxious. Just helped her rinse her mouth and wipe her face. It was rather more effective in making the point.  
“Ok,” Korra conceded weakly, as if it had been at all up for debate. “Maybe I’m not quite _better_ -better.” And then, because she was still Korra and had never quite learned to back down, all but pouted and added, “but I don’t see why you had to go sticking another one in me when there’s already...” Korra looked down to where the IV port had been, and saw only gauze and bandages twisting from her upper arm almost to her wrist, worryingly thick around her elbow. Even looking at it made the skin beneath itch and throb, and her stomach twist alarmingly. “...Oh.”  
Kya retrieved a blanket from where she’d left it on the counter, tucking it round Korra’s shoulders, carefully smoothing it so that it obscured the central line from Korra’s vision with some gentle reassurance that Korra didn’t seem to hear. Korra looked down, squeezing her hand into a fist with a wince, feeling things tug in the inside of her arm in a way she really shouldn’t.  
“It’ll heal,” Kya promised again, louder, trying to draw Korra’s attention away from the injury. It wasn’t really working until Kya clicked on the penlight, making Korra flinch at the brightness. “Sorry. You know the drill. Follow my finger?”

“I should call my folks.” Korra announced belatedly, once Kya had put the torch away and she’d managed to blink the spots out of her vision.   
“You know we’ve let them know you’re ok, right?” Kya said, even as she fished in her pocket for a phone. She didn’t mention the handset she’d found in Korra’s pocket. The Avatar’s dedicated gang phone might have managed to go unnoticed, but it wouldn’t have done her any good. It had been warped by heat, cracked, and water damaged beyond repair. She’d had a look over it and was relieved beyond measure that the phone was utterly destroyed. The idea that Korra could have had rescue within her grasp would have been too awful.

Kya had to rescue her phone after Korra dozed off, still on the line. She stirred, not fully awake by a long shot.  
“Kya? Can you...I don’t...” she bit off the end of the sentence, looking away. Kya had been expecting it.   
“You think we’re going to let you out of our sight for the next year, dumbass?” She teased, and Korra gave a tired little snort, shifting into a more comfortable position. Kya sat down on the bedside chair with a near theatrical groan. “Don’t you worry. We’ve got you.”

That night was one of the longest of Asami’s life. She got snatches of sleep, waking every time someone came in or out of the overcrowded, uncomfortably warm bedroom. Every time her dreams shifted back to the truck, to Korra’s bloody face looking up at her. At one point she woke because her phone was buzzing, “DAD” flashing on the screen. Asami flinched away like the phone was a live snake, the clatter as it hit the desk rousing some of the others. She let it go to voicemail, unable to make her fingers cooperate enough to answer. It was probably a small mercy; she wasn’t sure she could have brought herself to speak. Mako crossed, taking the handset. Asami didn’t object as he played the voicemail. Hiroshi’s voice was strained.  
_“...don’t know why you bother having this thing when you never bloody answer it...Asami, it’s dad. Look, something’s happened to another factory. Another fire, they’re saying._ ” Asami turned a faintly accusatory eye on Mako who just shrugged, unashamed. “ _It’s being handled, so don’t worry about anything. It’s just...bad timing. I have to go back to Omashu. Get some things sorted. I’ll be back as soon as I can, but it might be a couple of days. I’ll be in touch when I can. Love you.”_

The silence was oppressive. Mako gave Asami an appraising look, and then handed back the phone before settling back down. It took a long time before Asami managed to get to sleep again. The next interruption came when someone shook her shoulder.

“Wzzggfln?” Asami managed as she straightened up, stretching out her protesting neck. On another day Opal might have been amused by Asami’s appearance, but there were more important things today.  
“I _said_ Korra’s awake. She’s asking for you.”  
Asami stood, and was nearly knocked back into the chair when Opal flung her arms round her. Asami’s brain stalled out. “She confirmed it all,” Opal said, by way of explanation for why she was trying to crack her ribs. “That you saved her. It’s not that I didn’t believe you it’s just...”  
“You’d have been stupid not to have been at least a little suspicious.” Asami reassured her, and untangled herself as fast as was polite. She still hesitated at the door for longer than she was proud of, with the White Lotus guards glaring at her the whole time, but she finally screwed up a bit of resolve and pushed her way in. That resolve promptly fled on seeing Korra.

She looked almost small. It was a stupid cliché, Asami knew it even as she thought it, but it was true. Korra, although perpetually dwarfed by Bolin and Mako, was hardly short. Add the muscle and the attitude, and occasionally a high wolf tail, and “small” got shunted right to the bottom of any list of potential descriptors. Korra swaggered. Korra contrived to give off an air of swaggering even when sat still; unapologetically confident, unapologetically taking up space. And now she was stuck in a bed, crowded by monitors and almost smothered in blankets, tired, and hurting. And small. At least the blood was cleaned up, her hair no longer a wild, matted mess. Even so the bruising was still there, the sutures in her lip and above her eye, her right arm almost mummified. Asami had been expecting it, but it still gave her a jolt. She hadn’t been expecting the cuddly flying lemur stuck under Korra’s injured arm.   
“His name,” Korra said, her voice still raw and sounding more than a little out of it, “is Mr Flopsy.”  
It was not quite what Asami had been expecting from their first post-rescue conversation.  
“He looks...nice. Fluffy.” Asami managed, and mentally facepalmed. _Fluffy? Really?_   
Korra snorted, rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.  
“He’s Ikki’s. She insisted. I can never refuse those kids, you know? ‘sides, don’t really feel like moving my arm too much right not, so he stays. He’s comfy.”  
Asami made to agree on basic principle and then realised that she really didn’t know. She’d never had younger siblings or cousins to interact with in that way. Korra jerked her head towards the chair at the bedside and Asami sat, trying not to look at the wires and screens and failing miserably.   
“I can’t thank you enough for what you did.” Korra said quietly, and Asami had to stop her there.  
“I didn’t know it was you. OK? I didn’t...I wasn’t coming to save you. Not specifically you. I wish I could say I was. I just wanted to find out what was going on and then I saw you except I didn’t even know and...”  
Korra rolled her eyes, and then wished she hadn’t. The nausea was still taking some time to abate.   
“How on earth does that diminish what you did, hey? Face it, Asami, that was textbook heroics. You saved my life.”  
“No, no, you were working on your own escape, I saw you with the...”  
“Asami.” Korra’s voice cracked a little. “Trust me. The state I was in...” she paused and pulled the blanket over her shoulders a little more tightly round her, the little shake of her head more like an involuntary twitch. “You saved my life.”   
There was no uncertainty there. Asami didn’t know how to react. She settled for humour.  
“Well I guess that would make us even then.”   
It wasn’t a good joke, but Korra laughed all the same. And then winced, good hand coming across to her ribs.  
“I guess it does.”

They lapsed into silence. Korra kept opening her mouth then closing it again, gaze dropping from Asami to her hands each time. Asami hesitated then reached out for Korra’s hand. It only took a brush of Asami’s fingertips to make Korra jolt as if she’d been electrocuted, the motion making her swear in pain. Asami snatched her hand back, but Korra was waving away her apologies before she could even start.  
“I can get a bit...jumpy.” Korra explained weakly, as the frantic beeping of the heart monitor started returning to a more sedate pace. “After...well.”  
It wasn’t exactly hard to understand. Slightly more cautiously this time Asami took Korra’s hand, waiting for Korra to entwine their fingers before squeezing gently.   
“If this is going to be a regular feature of our relationship you’re...what? Why are you looking at me like that?” Asami wasn’t prepared for the surprise on Korra’s face, the slight tremor in her voice.  
“You’re ok with a bender for a girlfriend?”  
If Korra hadn’t been hurt and drugged and not entirely lucid Asami would have pulled her close and kissed Korra hard enough to leave her in no doubt. As it was she cradled Korra’s cheek with her free hand, not letting Korra go, leaned across and pressed a gentle kiss to Korra’s forehead. And when Korra all but collapsed against her she didn’t even blink, just shifted to take the strain off of Korra’s injuries without breaking away even for a moment.  
“I should have told you,” Korra muttered into Asami’s shoulder. “I shouldn’t have hid...”  
“No.” Asami wasn’t having it. “You were protecting yourself. You had every right to.”

Kya had been very firm in her instructions that Korra was not to leave the bed, never mind the Infirmary, until Kya gave her express permission. Korra was doing better than expected, but the drugs and mistreatment had done a number on her and she needed to rest and recover. And Korra took it with good grace for at least the first six hours of being properly conscious. After that it started to get a little more difficult.

Korra knew she was being an ass, but she couldn’t help it. She’d spent the last few days trapped against her will and being pumped full of who even knew what, and all she wanted was to curl up in her own bed and sleep for a week. Being trapped like a lab rat again was not on her to do list. She didn’t need Kya to tell her about the damage to her lungs and throat, the all-too familiar after affects of drowning, simulated and otherwise. She didn’t need another round of stuff being pumped into her. Except she did, apparently, because even though the worst of the effects were passing she still couldn’t hold anything down. And she couldn’t keep warm. And the dizzy spells weren’t going away. But apart from that and the pain and the tiredness she was fine. Absolutely fine.

With Opal for moral support, Asami couldn’t face the idea of asking Korra for anything that involved her father, she drafted a text to send later that evening. Something that should dispel any suspicion while giving Asami a bit more time to avoid having to face him.

With Korra’s corroboration Asami found a very different side to the island. The White Lotus didn’t get any friendlier, but the family were far more welcoming. Tenzin was a little awkward and formal, and Asami had a slight internal freakout when she realised that the famously non-airbending son of the Avatar was clearly anything but. She hadn’t quite twigged with Kya on their first, or even their second meeting. It was a popular waterbender name, after all, but in retrospect she wanted to headbutt something.

It was halfway through dinner when Kya threw down her chopsticks with a huff of frustration, glaring at the door. Asami twisted in her seat, and saw just what had annoyed Kya so much. Korra was shuffling into the dining room, still looking more than a little unsteady, dressed in pyjamas and a dressing gown. Her injured arm was up in a sling, the other...Asami’s brain crashed. There was really no other word for it. She had to have gone mad, probably from stress, because it looked to her that Korra was using a polar bear dog as a living crutch. It looked like Korra had her arm casually slung over the South’s apex predator, and that just seemed an impossibility too far, even given recent history. Especially given that nobody else seemed to care at all.   
“I thought I made my instructions perfectly clear,” Kya called sternly, even as Ikki jumped up to hug Korra, Meelo on her heels. Korra gave a one shouldered shrug, even as the twin impact nearly had her on her ass.  
“Naga was howling. You know she gets worked up if we’re apart too long. And she’s not allowed in the Infirmary so...”  
“Hmm.” Kya pursed her lips, but it was clear there was no real anger there. “Come on, sit down before you collapse.”  
Korra did, using Ikki and Naga to lower herself to the floor, Naga sitting behind her and curling round to act as a backrest. Asami looked down at the massive head and back to Korra, and was more than a little stunned to get a formal introduction and to scratch the top of the southern pole’s food chain behind the ear.

As good as it was to see Korra up Asami had to agree with Kya. Korra looked in no shape to be out of bed. Korra barely even looked awake, and Asami was pretty sure if Naga moved Korra would just have keeled over backwards. And despite having gone through all the considerable and ill-advised effort of getting to the dining room she wasn’t showing any interest in actually eating. This seemed to have escaped Meelo and Ikki’s notice as they piled up a plate.  Opal passed her a glass of water and there was just something about it, about the look she gave Korra, about the little sympathetic touch on the arm, that made Asami realise. Korra definitely wasn’t in any state to be up and about, and everyone knew it. Korra knew it. The only two who apparently didn’t know it were Meelo and Ikki. Well, and Rohan, but he was probably still getting the hang of object permanence. To confirm her theory Asami looked along the table, to where Jinora was still sitting, having failed to jump at Korra like an over eager puppy. While her siblings were cheerily chatting away she just looked concerned, maybe even sad.  She looked down at her food when she saw Asami watching her, but Asami saw out of the corner of her eye the way Jinora’s lips pursed in disapproval as Korra gave in and managed a few bites. It wasn’t a surprise, Asami reasoned; Jinora had been more actively involved at their arrival, and she was the oldest. As if a few extra months were enough to qualify you to be part of a secret conspiracy, but still, they had to draw lines somewhere.

Eventually Korra sagged back against Naga, the great beast shifting to better support her. She didn’t quite growl when it looked like Meelo was about to wake Korra, but there was a definite air of challenge. Mercifully Meelo backed down, although from Pema and Tenzin’s lack of reaction Asami guessed he’d not been in any actual danger. Again, it made sense. Volatile predators did not tend to get tolerated at the dinner table. Or let small children use them as climbing frames, Asami mentally added, as Meelo scrambled on top of Naga.

It was only after Korra had been helped back out of the room that Tenzin took Asami to one side, leading her up to a cluttered study. She sat across the desk for him, fighting the feeling she’d been called in to speak to the headmaster.   
“I have a request.”  
“And this had to wait until Korra couldn’t object because...?”  
Tenzin flushed slightly, clearly not expecting to be so obvious. He didn’t bother denying it.  
“Because she would doubtless tell me to, I believe her exact words would be something like, ‘fuck right off’, and insist you’d risked enough already.”  
Asami quirked an eyebrow, unimpressed albeit privately amused at Tenzin’s impersonation of Korra.  
“And you don’t think I have? I risked _everything_ tonight.”  
Tenzin did not rise to the challenge.   
“I have been in this fight entirely too long to think that risk is something that we can distribute fairly. The challenges we face are not so accommodating to allow us that luxury. This war is not so kind.”  
Asami shifted uncomfortably in her seat. The rebuke, if you could even call it that, had carried no heat, no judgement. It was just a statement of fact, and it left Asami feeling thoroughly chided without so much as a shift in tone. It made her feel rather sorry for Tenzin’s children; it couldn’t be easy growing up with a father that could make you squirm with guilt at the drop of a hat.    
“Asami, you found all this information that led you to Korra quite by accident. I can only guess what more there is to find if you looked.”  
“So what, you want me to break into my dad’s computers and just copy all his files?” Asami snorted. Tenzin sat silently. “...you’re not kidding. Ok. We’re talking terabytes here, you know? And that information...” Asami shook herself, trying to pretend that she hadn’t just been about to bring up copyright. Some habits died hard, it would seem. “I have his office computer information already in my study. He,” the ‘he’ needed no elaboration, “doesn’t know I have them so I imagine I can retrieve them fairly easily.”   
“Seems a wise place to start.”   
“You’re just going to trust me to do this? Leave the island, run home?”  
Tenzin matched her stare.  
“Is there a reason I should not?”

Asami gave in. She knew she would, from the moment she’d understood what Tenzin was asking her. How could she not? She stood.  
“You’ll make sure they let me back onto the island, right?”   
Tenzin rolled his eyes and nodded. She’d made it to the door before he spoke.  
“I warned her off you, you know.”  
Asami stopped, one hand on the doorframe.  
“We had quite the row about it. I told her that your father was too much of a threat to risk associating with you.” Tenzin made a noise of derision. “She wasn’t having any of it. I’ll be honest, I wish I hadn’t been right about your father. But I’m damn glad I was wrong about you.”  
And maybe it was calculated emotional manipulation, and maybe it was genuine. But Asami couldn’t deny it was damn effective.

Asami felt the eyes on her as she made her way through the temple, making her skin crawl. The monks and acolytes gave her a wide berth, but at least their scrutiny was more curious than hostile. The same could not be said of the blue-robed White Lotus guards. It was something of a relief to exit the main complex and get out into the cool, early evening air. And then promptly get hit from behind by something. She was moving before her brain had a chance to process.  
“Did you just choke-slam your own jacket?” asked an amused voice. Asami couldn’t really deny it, seeing as she still had a fistful of the offending garment. She straightened up sheepishly as Opal sniggered. “I figured you could probably do with that. Oh, and this. Don’t worry, I won’t throw it.” Opal offered her the glove back, and Asami took it.   
“You want me to come with? Give you a bit of backup?”  
“I’m only going to my house, Opal. Not fighting a war.”  
Opal made a face, tipping her hand back and forth to suggest the two were not quite as dissimilar as Asami believed.  
“This _is_ a war. And the other night you got caught up in a skirmish. This right now? This is different. This isn’t bumbling in by accident. This is consciously choosing a side.”  
“I don’t _bumble,_ ” Asami snapped, and Opal had to bite her lip to stop from smiling at the wounded expression. “You really want to help?”  
“You wouldn’t believe what having backup does for your life expectancy,” Opal told her, remarkably deadpan. Asami mulled it over. For maybe half a second. She might be proud, but she could still remember the way her heart had skittered in her chest when the gun had been pointed her way. Could still feel the sweat beading on her forehead.   
“Come on then. Let’s get this done.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Insert now standard apology for slow update schedule here*. I don't know what to say, beyond I'm sorry. 
> 
> Feedback, as ever, very much appreciated.


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